Assessment of new viticulture systems under a set of high constraints

Abstract

Combining drastic reduction of inputs and high sensitivity of vine to pathogens implies re-designing viticulture production systems. The newly designed systems then need to be assessed to be sure that they are sustainable and can be implemented by wine growers.

A experimental network with 26 vine sites located in Atlantic coast, Mediterranean and in North-East of France, has been set up since 2012. Tested viticulture systems of vine grape production are « Integrated Production », « Organic farming »,

« Zero fungicide » and « Zero pesticide ». Planting new vine varieties that are resistant to pathogens is under process in Alsace, Bordeaux and Loire vineyards. The methodology framework used to design and to assess the new systems is based on published work. Systems assessment deals with the three dimensions of sustainability: environmental, social and economic and also quality of vine and wine. A set of high set of constraints of the designed viticulture systems is: economical sustainability combining to hard reduction of inputs and high quality of grapes and vines, according to Protected Designation of Origin.

Quality and quantity vine plots assessment (i.e. yield, berries quality), diseases assessment (i.e. mildiew, oïdium, grey rot), economic assessment (i.e. gross margin) and environmental assessment (i.e. IFT and INDIGO^® indicators) on different combinations of soil and climate, allow assessing and ranking the designed viticulture systems. For instance, one organic system is efficient and reliable for quality and quantity of vine, economic and environmental indicators. The only margin for improvement deals with reducing even more cupper used for fungi management.

To conclude, the tested designed systems are well assessed under a set of high set of constraints of French vineyards. Drastically monitoring reduction of inputs (i.e. pesticides and energy) is possible for several new designed viticulture systems. In the next years, the extension of the network to more soil and climate combinations, will allow us to propose innovative robust viticulture systems to winegrowers.