Terroir 1996 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 La vinicultura en regiones tropicales Brasileras

La vinicultura en regiones tropicales Brasileras

Abstract

La producción mundial de uvas para mesa es obtenida de viñedos localizados entre los paralelos 30 y 50º Latitud Norte y 30 y 40º Latitud Sur.
En el Brasil, algunos de los principales estados productores (São Paulo, Bahia, Pernambuco y Minas Gerais) están localizados abajo de las latitudes citadas.
Durante las últimas décadas, en cuanto la producción vitícola de las regiones brasileñas tradicionales (Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Paraná y Santa Catarina) permaneció estable, las regiones tropicales experimentaron una expansión apreciable en el área cultivada, con destaque especial para el Valle del Rio São Francisco (Bahia y Pernambuco) y el Nordeste Paulista (São Paulo).
En estas regiones el desarrollo de la viticultura fue alcanzado gracias al gran esfuerzo de la investigación y del sector productivo en la generación y adaptación de nuevas técnicas, característica que situó la viticultura tropical entre las tecnológicamente mas avanzadas.
Actualmente, cerca de 10.000 ha de uvas finas para mesa son cultivadas en el Brasil, cuja producción está próxima a los 30 millones de cajas de 7 Kg. Las áreas mas importantes del cultivo se localizan en los estados de São Paulo (2.890 ha), Bahia y Pernambuco (4.000), Paraná (2.600) y Minas Gerais (400).
El Estado de São Paulo concentra su producción en dos zonas, São Miguel Arcanjo y Nordeste Paulista.
La zona de São Miguel Arcanjo, localizada en el sur del estado es la productora más tradicional de uvas finas de Brasil con un área de cultivo estable de cerca de 2000 ha, donde predomina el cultivo de la variedad Itália y sus mutaciones. Aunque con invierno (frio y seco) prolongado que permite una abundante brotación, el verano caliente y húmedo dificulta la cosecha, cujas uvas sin embargo son de buena calidad, lo que permite, inclusive, su exportación para Europa.
La viticultura del Nordeste Paulista, concentrada en la región de Jales, aunque reciente (20 años) ya presenta cerca de 1.000 ha cultivadas con uvas finas para mesa.
El clima de la región (Tabla 1) es de invierno seco y ameno y verano caliente y lluvioso. La tecnología desarrollada para el cultivo de uvas finas, en estas condiciones climáticas, basada en la doble poda anual de ramas leñosas (poda de producción — febrero a junio y poda de renovación — julio a diciembre), origina la producción en la temporada de baja cosecha (junio — diciembre en el hemisfério sur). Con resultados económicos favorables, los vinicultores buscan constantemente innovaciones tecnológicas, con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad de las uvas producidas. La utilización de reguladores de crecimiento, desbaste de frutillos, cobertura de los viñedos con “sombrite”, riego y un intenso programa de control de enfermedades y plagas son prácticas obligatorias.
El cultivo de las uvas finas para mesa implantado en el Valle del Rio São Francisco (Bahia y Pernambuco) es el que presenta mayores posibilidades de expansión. Esta región, la más árida del Brasil, tiene precipitaciones pluviométricas anuales entre 300 y 500 mm, distribuidos normalmente entre los meses de noviembre y febrero.
Gracias a las condiciones climáticas locales (Tabla 1), con calor y sequía durante prácticamente todo el año y con la disponibilidad de agua para riego, es posible producir 5 cosechas en dos años, en una misma área y lo que es más importante, en cualquier día del año.
La tecnología disponible, como muestran muchos proyectos, ha propiciado la producción de uvas de alta calidad que son comercializadas en los mercados europeos principalmente entre los meses de octubre a enero.

DOI:

Publication date: February 24, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2000

Type: Article

Authors

Fernando Mendes Pereira, Aparecida Conceição Boliani

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2000

Citation

Related articles…

Exploring resilience and competitiveness of wine estates in Languedoc-Roussillon in the recent past: a multi-level perspective

The Languedoc-Roussillon wineries are facing a decline in wine yields particularly PGI yields due to many factors. Climate change is just ones, but is expected to increase in the future. There is also structurally a large heterogeneity of yield profiles among terroirs, varieties and strategies. This work investigates the link between yield, competitiveness and resilience to explore how resilient winegrowers have been in the recent past. To this end two approaches have been combined; (i) an accountancy database analysis at estate scale and (ii) municipality level competitiveness analysis. A new resilience indicator that characterizes the capacity of an estate to absorb yield variation is also defined. The FADN database between 2000 and 2018 of ex-Languedoc-Roussillon (France) and other data are used to analyse the current situation and the past evolution of competitiveness and resilience by type of estate (type of farm: PGI and/or PDO & type of commercialization: bulk and/or bottles). The net margin, which defines competitiveness, is not correlated to yield for all types but depends on the type of commercialization and the level of specialisation. The resilience indicator shows that the net margin of estates specialized in PGI is particularly sensitive to yield declines. We also show that price evolutions seem to compensate the effect of yield losses for the majority of types. Municipality scale analysis shows the links between local pedoclimate, yield, commercialization strategies and price. Overlapping a PDO with a PGI does not always increase a municipality’s PGI competitiveness. It is difficult to make links between causes and effects due to the complexity of the wine production system. Production diversification may be a solution. Resorting to the two level of analysis helps resolving the data gap that is necessary to explore the links between yield and economic performance of the wine estates in the long term.

Long-term drought resilience of traditional red grapevine varieties from a semi-arid region

In recent decades, the scarcity of water resources in agriculture in certain areas has been aggravated by climate change, which has caused an increase in temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, as well as an increase in the frequency of extreme phenomena such as droughts and heat waves. Although the vine is considered a drought-tolerant specie, it has to satisfy important water requirements to complete its cycle, which coincides with the hottest and driest months. Achieving sustainable viticulture in this scenario requires high levels of efficiency in the use of water, a scarce resource whose use is expected to be severely restricted in the near future. In this regard, the use of drought-tolerant varieties that are able to maintain grape yield and quality could be an effective strategy to face this change. During three consecutive seasons (2018-2020) the behavior in rainfed regime of 13 traditional red grapevine varieties of the Spain central region was studied. These varieties were cultivated in a collection at Centro de Investigación de la Vid y el Vino de Castilla-La Mancha (IVICAM-IRIAF) located in Tomelloso (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain). Yield components (yield, mean bunch and berry weight, pruning weight), physicochemical parameters of the musts (brix degree, total acidity, pH) and some physiological parameters related with water stress during ripening period (δ13C, δ18O) were analysed. The application of different statistical techniques to the results showed the existence of significant differences between varieties in their response to stressful conditions. A few varieties highlighted for their high ability to adapt to drought, being able to maintain high yields due to their efficiency in the use of water. In addition, it was possible quantify to what extent climate can be a determinant in the δ18O of musts under severe water stress conditions.

Low-cost sensors as a support tool to monitor soil-plant heat exchanges in a Mediterranean vineyard

Mediterranean viticulture is increasingly exposed to more frequent extreme conditions such as heat waves. These extreme events co-occur with low soil water content, high air vapor pressure deficit and high solar radiant energy fluxes and result in leaf and berry sunburn, lower yield, and berry quality, which is a major constraint for the sustainability of the sector. Grape growers must find ways to proper and effectively manage heat waves and extreme canopy and berry temperatures. Irrigation to keep soil moisture levels and enable adequate plant turgor, and convective and evaporative cooling emerged as a key tool to overcome this major challenge. The effects of irrigation on soil and plant water status are easily quantifiable but the impact of irrigation on soil and canopy temperature and on heat convection from soil to cluster zone remain less characterized. Therefore, a more detailed quantification of vineyard heat fluxes is highly relevant to better understand and implement strategies to limit the effects of extreme weather events on grapevine leaf and berry physiology and vineyards performance. Low-cost sensor technologies emerge as an opportunity to improve monitoring and support decision making in viticulture. However, validation of low-cost sensors is mandatory for practical applicability. A two-year study was carried in a vineyard in Alentejo, south of Portugal, using low-cost thermal cameras (FLIR One, 80×60 pixels and FLIR C5, 160×120 pixels, 8-14 µm, FLIR systems, USA) and pocket thermohygrometers (Extech RHT30, EXTECH instruments, USA) to monitor grapevine and soil temperatures. Preliminary results show that low-cost cameras can detect severe water stress and support the evaluation of vertical canopy temperature variability, providing information on soil surface temperature. All these thermal parameters can be relevant for soil and crop management and be used in decision support systems.

Genotypic variability in root architectural traits and putative implications for water uptake in grafted grapevine

Root system architecture (RSA) is important for soil exploration and edaphic resources acquisition by the plant, and thus contributes largely to its productivity and adaptation to environmental stresses, particularly soil water deficit. In grafted grapevine, while the degree of drought tolerance induced by the rootstock has been well documented in the vineyard, information about the underlying physiological processes, particularly at the root level, is scarce, due to the inherent difficulties in observing large root systems in situ. The objectives of this study were to determine genetic differences in the root architectural traits and their relationships to water uptake in two Vitis rootstocks genotypes (RGM, 140Ru) differing in their adaptation to drought. Young rootstocks grafted upon the Riesling variety were transplanted into cylindrical tubes and in 2D rhizotrons under two conditions, well watered and moderate water stress. Root traits were analyzed by digital imaging and the amount of transpired water was measured gravimetrically twice a week. Root phenotyping after 30 days reveal substantial variation in RSA traits between genotypes despite similar total root mass; the drought-tolerant 140Ru showed higher root length density in the deep layer, while the drought-sensitive RGM was characterised by shallow-angled root system development with more basal roots and a larger proportion of fine roots in the upper half of the tube. Water deficit affected canopy size and shoot mass to a greater extent than root development and architectural-related traits for both 140Ru and RGM, suggesting vertical distribution of roots was controlled by genotype rather than plasticity to soil water regime. The deeper root system of 140Ru as compared to RGM correlated with greater daily water uptake and sustained stomata opening under water-limited conditions but had little effect on above-ground growth. Our results highlight that grapevine rootstocks have constitutively distinct RSA phenotypes and that, in the context of climate change, those that develop an extensive root network at depth may provide a desirable advantage to the plant in coping with reduced water resources.

Downscaling of remote sensing time series: thermal zone classification approach in Gironde region

In viticulture, the challenges of local climate modelling are multiple: taking into account the local environment, fine temporal and spatial scales, reliable time series of climate data, ease of implementation and reproducibility of the method. At the local scale, recent studies have demonstrated the contribution of spatialization methods for ground-based climate observation data considering topographic factors such as altitude, slope, aspect, and geographic coordinates (Le Roux et al, 2017; De Rességuier et al, 2020). However, these studies have shown questions in terms of the reproducibility and sustainability of this type of climate study. In this context, we evaluated the potential of MODIS thermal satellite images validated with ground-based climate data (Morin et al, 2020). Previous studies have been encouraging, but questions remain to be explored at the regional scale, particularly in the dynamics of the massive use of bioclimatic indices to classify the climate of wine regions. The results at the local scale were encouraging, but this approach was tested in the current study at the regional scale. Several objectives were set: 1) to evaluate the downscaling method for land surface temperature time series, 2) to identify regional thermal structure variations. We used weekly minimum and maximum surface temperature time series acquired by MODIS satellites at a spatial resolution of 1000 m and downscaled at 500 m using topographical variables. Two types of analyses were performed: