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This collection of resources pertaining to Mediterranean Climate Agriculture was compiled by ECHO Intern Eleni Patitsas in April, 2017.

"It is generally accepted that the mediterranean climate occurs in southern and southwestern Australia, central Chile, coastal California, the Western Cape of South Africa and around the Mediterranean Basin. The largest area with a mediterranean climate is the Mediterranean Basin, which has given the climate its name, although stretches of the Mediterranean coast (in Egypt, Libya and part of Tunisia) are too dry to be thus classified. More than half of the total mediterranean-climate regions on earth occur on the Mediterranean Sea.

Mediterranean-climate regions are found, roughly speaking, between 31 and 40 degrees latitude north and south of the equator, on the western side of continents. Yet they can extend eastwards for thousands of kilometers into arid regions if not arrested by mountains or confronted with moist climates, such as the summer rainfall that occurs in certain regions of Australia and South Africa. The most extended penetration goes from the Mediterranean Basin up into western Pakistan and into some areas of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (the source of many of our cherished bulbous plants)."  [ As described by the Mediterranean Garden Society ]

The native vegetation of mediterranean climate lands must be adapted to survive long, hot summer droughts and prolonged wet periods in winter.  Mediterranean vegetation examples include the following:

  • Evergreen trees: such as bay laurel, pine, cypress, and oak

  • Deciduous trees: such as sycamore, oak, and buckeyes

  • Fruit trees such as olive, figs, walnuts, and grapes

  • Shrubs: rosemary, Erica, Banksia, and chamise

  • Sub-shrubs: such as lavender, Halimium, and sagebrush

  • Grasses:  grassland types, Themeda triandra, bunchgrasses, sedges, and rushes

  • Herbs: such as Achillea, Dietes, Helichrysum, and Penstemon



  1. Atemoya is a fast-growing tree up to 9 m tall. It is a hybrid of the cherimoya (Annona cherimola) and the sugar apple (Annona squamosa). Atemoyas produce delicious-tasting fruits that resemble the cherimoya in flavor. The fragrant, snow white flesh is both sweet and subacid at the same time. The...
  2. The Cantaloupe is a creeping annual gourd producing round or oval fruits, 10-15cm (4-6”) diameter with a rough, scaly, netted outside skin. Cantaloupe is delicious as a dessert or in a fruit salad.
  3. Chickpea is a very drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing, cool season crop that tolerates heat during fruiting and ripening. It is grown as a cool season annual in a broad belt through the Mediterranean region to the subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Europe, Central, and South America. The...
  4. Chinese jujube is a large shrub or small, somewhat thorny tree to 15 m in height. The fruit is oval, up to 3 cm in diameter and usually consumed fresh. Chinese jujube is adapted to more temperate climates than the Indian jujube (Z. mauritiana).
  5. Chinese Kale, also called Kailaan or Chinese Broccoli, has glossyblue-green leaves with crisp and thick stems. This vegetable adapts well to cold and hot climates and is grown all year round in mild climates. After the first cutting of the main stem, the plant will grow many branches for...
  6. Cucumbers probably originated in India and became popular in Greece and Italy. They are now grown worldwide both commercially and in home gardens. The fruit of this vegetable plant is thick, cylindrical, 6-40 cm long, and shiny green. It can be eaten raw in salads, pickled or cooked in stews or...
  7. Coriander/Cilantro is a cool-climate, annual crop, up to 1.5 m in height, with small white flowers, valued for its seeds (coriander) and leaves (cilantro). Leaves are used in soups, stews, salads, and stir-fry dishes. Seeds are used whole or ground in bread, cheeses, curry, sausages, and soups.
  8. Crimson clover is a temperate, annual, nitrogen-fixing plant that can grow to 1 m in height. This clover is grown for seed, hay, silage, pasture for most livestock, and soil improvement. It is widely grown as a winter crop to be tilled under in the spring.
  9. Foxtail millet is an annual grass crop, up to 1.5 m in height, and one of the most water efficient (250-300 mm per crop), short term (60-70 days), warm weather crops which can be used as a “catch” crop, planted after another crop has failed. The grain can be cooked whole or ground into flour....
  10. Wild carrots (Daucus carota) are native in Western Europe, the Near East, and the Mediterranean region. Wild carrots now are widely distributed in temperate Europe, Asia, and in parts of Africa, Australia, and the Americas. It has become a common weed species in croplands in many portions of its...
  11. This Italian edible gourdis a cucurbit vine that climbs and has large long-stalked leaves forming a canopy over the flowers and fruits. The fruit islight greenand smooth-skinned. Fruit shape varies but usually is long and cylindrical,up to 1 m in length and 8 cmin diameter. The fruit is harvested...
  12. Oregano is a tangled, bushy, perennial, aromatic herb, with stems up to 1 m long, and used as a culinary herb and for essential oil. Oregano has good heat and drought tolerance.Oregano is a bright blue-green with aromatic, flavorful leaves which can be used fresh or dried.
  13. Parsley is an upright, herbaceous plant, growing to 70 cm in height. In temperate regions, parsley is a biennial, putting on vegetative growth the first season, over-wintering, then flowering the following season. In tropical regions it will not flower or produce seeds. It is commonly used as a...
  14. Radishes are an annual herb with cylindrical roots up to 65 cm long or round roots up to 8 cm in diameter. They are grown for their slightly spicy roots.
  15. Sesame is an erect, herbaceous, annual, broad-leaved plant, growing to 2.5 m in height. It is one of the oldest cultivated crops and mainly grown as a field crop for the seeds and especially oil extracted from the seeds.
  16. Sunflowers are tall showy, usually yellow flowers grown for their seeds. The flower head is composed of the showy perimeter ray flowers and the inner disc florets which produce the seeds. As well as being an ornamental plant that attracts pollinators, sunflower seeds are pressed for oil or used...
  17. The True RedCranberry Bean is deep red in color like a cranberry but the pod is ivory with red flecks. It is a pole bean that blossoms and sets pods over the course of a growing season. Beans from this species serve as a major protein source for humans. Cranberry Bean was first grown in South...
  18. White clover is a low, spreading nitrogen-fixing perennial that provides nutritious forage and is usually grown in grass/legume pasture systems. It can also be used as a green manure or cover crop.
  19. White lupine is a cool season, nitrogen-fixing, bushyannual plant that grows up to 1.6 m in height and is adapted to higher altitudes in the tropics. It is mainly used for forage, green manure, or cover crops, but non-toxic modern varieties have been developed for human consumption. The beans are...
  20. 1983-01-01 What are the advantages and disadvantages of growing citrus from seed when that is possible? One obvious advantage is that it is much less labor intensive to simply sow citrus seeds and eliminate the grafting step. Another advantage is that the seedling will most likely be free from viruses that...
  21. Key Resource 1992-01-01 A case could be made that onions are one of two universal vegetables that are cherished in almost every culture, tomatoes being the other. Both are difficult to grow in many tropical and subtropical climates. Where a vegetable is both popular and difficult to grow, it brings a good price. If a...
  22. 1999-01-01 The cashew, Anacardium occidentale, is a resilient and fast-growing evergreen tree that can grow to a height of 20 m (60 ft). It belongs to the family Anacardiaceae, which also contains poison ivy and the mango. Native to arid northeastern Brazil, the cashew was taken around the world by the...
  23. In every region of the world it is necessary to find or develop appropriate techniques for agriculture. A large part of the surface of the world is arid, characterized as too dry for conventional rain fed agriculture. Yet, millions of people live in such regions, and if current trends in...
  24. 2009-04-01 This article is from ECHO Asia Note #1 When ripe, the yellow and apricot-colored fruit of the marian plum (Bouea macrophylla Griff.) seem to glow among the tree's glossy green leaves. The ripe fruit of marian plum offers an edible, crisp skin and juicy flesh. Besides being eaten raw as a dessert...
  25. 2004-01-20 This Report is a joint product of IFAD, DANIDA, World Bank, DAAS, University of Reading and national institutions in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Denmark, India and Kenya. The judgements made herein do not necessarily reflect their views. Designations employed in this Report do not imply the expression...
  26. 2007-11-18 This manual was produced by Roots of Peace under USAID subcontract No. GS-10F- 0359M, Task Order #306-M-00-05-00515-00, Afghanistan Alternative Livelihoods Program for the Eastern Region. It was written by Ferenc Sandor of Roots of Peace, with support from Juan Estrada of DAI for the use by Roots...
  27. 1997-01-19 CARAPHIN NEWS. Dr. Pamela Anderson writes that"CARAPHIN NEWS provides a medium for disseminating technical information on matters related to agricultural and environmental health, particularly information that is generated in and should be shared within the Caribbean Region. MALL SCALE VEGETABLE...
  28. 2005-10-01 An article by Francis Hallé in Nature and Resources, Volume 32, Number 3, 1996, explains several techniques used to “improve, select, propagate or preserve plant growth.” These techniques are called “phytopractices.” Most of them are inexpensive and simple to use but labor-intensive. The...
  29. 2001-10-20 Varroa mites (two strains of Varroa destructor), which parasitize the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) over much of the world, can seriously weaken and even kill honey bee colonies. Some possibilities for control are discussed.
  30. 2013-01-20 Principles for Mediterranean climate areas A very significant event in the world history of Agriculture is the domestication of plants by mankind. Instead of depending on wild growth, it was realized that the planting of seeds or cuttings allowed the propagation of the type of plants desired....
  31. In modern olive mills, the most common method for extracting olive oil from the olive paste is two-phase decanter. Because the two-phase extraction system is less complicated, consumes less energy and yields higher quality olive oil, there is approximately 90% olive mills in Spain using this...
  32. Abstract, 2018,Crop and Pasture Science Agronomic and seed-quality traits in 17 quinoa (Chenopodium quinoaWilld.) accessions grouped according to seed colour (i.e. ochre and yellow) were investigated and compared with the white commercial cultivar Regalona-Baer. These accessions were previously...
  33. 2013-01-20
  34. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international non-profit organization that undertakes scientific research for development.
  35. 2014-03-20
  36. 2016-01-19 Prof. Dov Pasternak working in Israel, was among the pioneers of drip irrigation. He researched irrigation with saline water and conducted domestication of arid land crops. He received a UNESCO Chair for his work on desert research. For over 10 years Prof. Pasternak worked as Principal Scientist...
  37. Amaranth Artichoke Asparagus Beans (Common) Beans (Asian) Beans (Fava) Beans (Garbanzo) Beans (Lima) Beans (Long) Beans (Soy) Beets Bok Choy Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery and Celeriac Chicory & Radicchio Chinese Cabbage Collards Corn Cowpeas Cucumbers Eggplant...