Sustainable agriculture and food innovation: preserving agrodiversity and advancing vineyard resilience in Madeira

Abstract

The ISOPlexis – Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Technology, University of Madeira, is a research unit that develops activities in the fields of Sustainable Agriculture, Agri-food Technology and Bioeconomy, with focus on agrodiversity monitoring and phenotyping, and supporting the regional agriculture and agri-food sector development with the goal to reach local food production system sustainability and resilience. In this domain, ISOPlexis works with local vine growers, promoting the survey and phenotyping of local grape varieties and assessing grape growth conditions. Viticulture is considered a strategic production for Madeira Island, supporting the Madeira Wine brand. Grape varieties phenotyping is essential for identification of vegetative material used in the Madeira Wine winemaking and simultaneously to support the crop genetic resources maintenance and management. Grapes varieties allowed for Madeira wine production are limited to Sercial, Verdelho, Malvasia de São Jorge, Malvasia Cândida, Tinta Negra, Caracol, Terrantez, Boal, Bastardo and Listrão. Concerning the vineyard monitoring, the agroecological and climatic conditions were assessed on short-middle temporal series with the main goal to understand and anticipate climatic changes impacts in vineyard growth and productivity, specially related to the water shortages and temperature rise. A vineyard located in Quinta das Vinhas, Estreito da Calheta, has been used as a case study, because of its production of Boal and Verdelho. Edafo-climatic data, water content, drone imaging, phenology, and grape varieties productivity data were analyzed and discussed. Additional studies are underway to evaluate the use of agroecological strategies for sustainable weed management in vineyards, using holistic strategies to control the main adventitious plants showing competitive behavior, with the main goal of reducing or eliminating the use of synthetic herbicides in agricultural crops. The use of more appropriate tools to control weeds allows for more sustainable management of them, without causing damage to the main crop, the environment or the food chain, while promoting improvements in “soil health”. They comprise crop fertilization and irrigation, mechanical and physical weed management methods (tillage, mulching, solarization, mechanical weeding, directed flame application) and vermicompost application.