Vigour: canopy, volume and surface Article author R de la Rosa, M. Torres Document classification 1.1.1. Vigour: canopy volume and surface Text Canopy volume was evaluated in the Olive Germplasm Bank of Córdoba (IFAPA) in 4-year-old trees before any pruning was applied. Therefore, the canopy values were an estimation of the vigour of the cultivar (Table 1). Most of the cultivars of the list were considered to have medium vigour. However, a high variability in canopy volume was observed in the full set of cultivars of the Germplasm Bank (Figure 1). Besides, the canopy surface was tightly correlated to canopy volume, so the categorisation for both traits was the same. It is noteworthy that this characterisation was done using an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) that showed to be very efficient and accurate in estimating canopy volume. The characterisation presented here was done in the climatic conditions of Córdoba, southern Spain. It is quite possible that in other climatic conditions the characterisation could vary significantly. For example, climatic conditions allowing a shorter or longer growing period could produce, respectively, a decrease or increase in canopy volume in some of the cultivars. Therefore, it is highly recommended to perform local evaluation of the cultivars of interest to accurately determine their vigour in a given climatic condition. Some of the data could be surprising, such as the fact that the Arbequina variety has a higher canopy volume than Picual. It is necessary to stress the fact that those data were taken in 4-year-old unpruned trees. This initial vigour could be modified in subsequent years by different factors, for example crop yield, as is the case of Arbequina. Text Table 1. Categorisation of the canopy volume of trees of olive cultivars, measured 4 years after planting and before any pruning was applied. Cultivar Canopy volume Abou Chawkeh/Picholine du Languedoc Medium-High Aggizi Shame Medium Arbequina Medium Azapa Medium Baladi Low Bianchera Medium Bosana/Peranzana Medium Carolea Medium Chalkidikis High Chemlal de Kabilye High Chemlali Sfax Medium Chetoui Medium-Low Coratina Medium-Low Cordovil de Serpa Medium Cornicabra Medium Frantoio High Gemlik Medium-Low Hojiblanca Medium Kalamon Medium Koroneiki Medium Leccino High Manzanilla Cacereña Low Manzanilla de Sevilla Medium-Low Mari Low Mastoidis Medium Maurino Medium-High Meski Medium Nocellara del Belice/Zarrazi Medium-Low Ouslati High Picholine Marocaine Medium Picual Medium Rowghani Medium-Low Toffahi Medium-Low Text Figure 1. Variability for canopy volume in the World Olive Germplasm Bank of Córdoba (IFAPA), measured 4 years after planting and before any pruning was applied. Some of the cultivars included in the list are highlighted in red.