Olive experts from the United States, Spain and Italy will teach the latest techniques in growing olives for commercial olive-oil production during an April 18-19 public short-course coordinated by the UC Davis Olive Center.

The course, to be held in Lodi, will begin Friday, April 18, with an update on olive-oil production in the United States and abroad by Paul Vossen, a University of California Cooperative Extension tree-fruit specialist and an authority on olive production and olive-oil processing.

Morning presentations will focus on orchard establishment, olive production in Spain and harvesting equipment. In the afternoon, course participants will visit Corto Olive in Lodi for demonstrations and field talks on training and pruning olive trees, irrigation and fertility, pest control and orchard floor management.

Friday evening's banquet speaker will be Angelo Godini, an olive expert from the University of Bari, Italy. The dinner menu will feature a variety of foods prepared with olive oil.

On Saturday, morning presentations will focus on olive oil varieties, irrigation and fertility management, orchard floor management, olive fruit-fly control and super-high-density olive oil production. Luncheon speaker will be Alan Green, president of the California Olive Oil Council and a vice president of the California Olive Ranch, providing projections for California olive oil.

Cost for the two-day course is $525 for those who register by March 26 and $550 for later registrations received by April 2. Registration forms and a complete course schedule are available online at: http://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/.

Media interested in attending the course should contact Dan Flynn, executive director of the UC Davis Olive Center at (916) 825-7536, jdflynn@ucdavis.edu.

The short course will be held at the Hutchins St. Square conference center, located at 125 South Hutchins St. in Lodi. The course is cosponsored by the UC Davis Olive Center, UC Davis Fruit and Nut Research and Information Center, and the UC Cooperative Extension in Sonoma County.