About this event
The 30th talk of the APS talks series, ‘Olive tree pruning & olive oil quality’, will be presented by Prof. David Mifsud. For this special edition of the APS talks series, happening on Saturday 18 November 2023, from 10:00 – 12:00, Prof. Mifsud will be delivering the talk and giving a live pruning demonstration, with the help of Mr Johann Grima, at an olive orchard in Wardija.
Right now, many are those who are hand-picking olives and cold-pressing them to produce olive oil. There are several parameters that need to be addressed in order to produce good-quality olive oil and to conserve its organoleptic properties for a longer period of time. All this will be discussed in detail during the talk. Apart from this, Prof. Mifsud and his team will perform live olive pruning so that interested parties can learn better how pruning of olive trees should be done.
The session will be recorded and uploaded to the Bank’s YouTube channel.
The event is fully booked
Agenda
10:00: Introduction
10:05: Talk and demonstration by Prof. David Mifsud
12:00: Refreshments
Central European Time (CET)
The event is free of charge. A donation of €5 for the Missionary Society of St. Paul (MSSP) in Rabat would be greatly appreciated. We will have a donation box (please note that we are only able to accept cash) at the entry point for your convenience, and we appreciate your generosity.
For your comfort, we will provide a supply of water during the session. You're encouraged to bring your own flask, which we'll gladly refill.
To ensure your safety and enjoyment, we recommend wearing appropriate clothing and footwear, as the passageway is rough and hilly. Additionally, please note that the event is subject to weather conditions. In the event of a need to postpone or cancel, we will promptly notify registered participants. Your understanding and cooperation are greatly appreciated.
Speaker
Prof. David Mifsud
Born in 1971, David Mifsud has distinguished himself for his accomplishments in the biological sciences particularly in the field of entomology and the preservation of honeybees. Mifsud graduated with BSc and MSc from the University of Malta and pursued his studies in Basel, Switzerland, where he earned a Ph.D. in Zoology in 2001. He was awarded the fellowship of the Linnean Society (FLS) and that of the Royal Entomological Society (FRES) and six years ago he was also awarded the Ġieh Ir-Repubblika (MOM). He works as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Earth Systems and Director of the Centre for Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Malta. He is also the President of the Entomological Society of Malta and founder of the Association of Maltese Apiculturists.
For more than 30 years he worked on many groups of terrestrial organisms, especially insects to better understand the biodiversity of the Maltese archipelago. Mifsud has contributed to studies to better understand the decline in honeybee populations and was instrumental in coordinating meetings between European Beekeeping Associations and the European Commissioners responsible for Health which were fundamental for the banning of harmful insecticides to honeybees. He published more than 250 papers in scientific journals, mostly related to biodiversity studies. He provided detailed information on more than 2,000 living organisms of which almost 800 species of insects were new records for the Maltese Islands and he described over 80 new species of insects to science.
David Mifsud is also the editor of a peer-reviewed scientific journal entitled Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta, devoted to the study of insects in Malta. In the twelve volumes published to-date, he managed to get together more than 150 scientists from all over the world to work on Maltese insects. This work generated more than 200 scientific papers providing information on more than 3,000 species of insects occurring in the Maltese archipelago.
Mr Johann Grima
He has been into olive pruning for the last 15 years taking care of more than 100 olive trees some of them being very old trees. Apart from the olive trees he also cultivates around 250 orange and lemon trees whilst also taking care of the fields around them.