Effect of regenerative agriculture in a commercial olive orchard in southern Spain after six years of implementation

[EN] Regenerative agriculture (RA) offers a promising approach to improving soil health and meeting environmental and consumer demands. However, its effects on olive groves requires of more experimental studies. This study compares soil physical, chemical, and biological properties between two adjacent commercial regenerative (Reg) and conventional (Conv) olive groves in Southern Spain. Regenerative management led to marked improvements in several soil indicators: compared to the Conv site, Reg sites showed increases of 33 % in water-stable aggregates, 33 % in soil moisture at field capacity, 75 % in organic matter, 46 % in extractable potassium, and 18 % in culturable microbial populations. In some cases, Reg sites approached values found in a nearby natural forest reference site, for example, 5.9 % vs. 13.5 % in soil organic matter and 3.4 vs. 3.4 in Shannon microbial diversity index. Leaf nutrient analysis indicated adequate nutritional status in both groves, though nitrogen and phosphorus levels were near the lower threshold of recommended values. Within the Reg grove, areas with reduced vegetation cover (RegB) exhibited lower values for multiple soil health indicators, though still comparable to or better than those in the Conv grove. These results emphasize the potential of regenerative practices to enhance soil functionality, while also highlighting the importance of uniform vegetation cover. Further research should include deeper soil profile analysis to better understand impacts on ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, refinement of nutrient diagnostics for low-input systems, and replication across varied edaphoclimatic regions to assess broader applicability.