Validation of phenological models for grapevine in the Veneto region

Wine grapes have the ability to accumulate high amounts of hexoses (glucose and fructose), which is considered one of the main processes occurring during the ripening stage. Sugar accumulation dynamics respond to genetic, environmental and vineyard management factors, with a changing climate leading to advanced and faster sugar accumulation worldwide. Research on mitigation techniques to this phenomenon is ongoing, with the largest focus being vineyard techniques to delay sugar accumulation. Breeding represents another powerful tool to address the issue of high sugar concentration at harvest, since historical trends of selecting best sugar-accumulators may be inverted to breed varieties that accumulate diminished concentrations of hexoses while maintaining optimal acidity, color, mouthfeel and aroma compounds.

There is an urgent need to develop protective measures for grapevines in historically significant dry-farming vineyards, particularly on Mediterranean islands.

The availability of water for irrigation is usually greater at the beginning of spring than in the following months, until the end of summer, in most regions of Spain.

Resistant grape varieties are gaining interest in viticulture due to their resistance to diseases, allowing to drastically reduces pesticides in viticulture [1].

Nowadays biodiversity loss is considered as a prior environmental issue. Agricultural landscapes are particularly concerned, mainly through the specialization and intensification of farming activities which lead, at a larger scale, to landscape simplification. Landscape management would be a good means to halt biodiversity loss, but large-scale studies remain rare. The life+ project BioDiVine aims to understand biodiversity dynamics and promote sustainable conservation actions at this scale in viticulture.