"The culture of olive trees requires the patience of generations of agriculturists. The olive tree is green and non-deciduous, with a gray trunk that comes to appear wrinkled and knotty. An olive tree takes twenty-five (25) to fifty (50) years to mature, however, it begins to give fruit six (6)to eight (8) years after planting. The olive tree is an evergreen tree, and stands anywhere from 10-50 feet high. An average tree will yield about 22 pounds of olives during harvest, and the best yields are often from mature trees exceeding 250 years of age."
It's pretty rotten regardless of politics. It's more akin to plowing salt into the fields than burning one year's crops. I'm not an eco-guy and have little knowledge of agriculture, but that story is crap.