Agroforestry and viticulture: results of a 11-years study on the production and vigour of the vines

Abstract

The ancient practices for cultivating vines often associated vines with trees. Traditionally, the trees provided a physical support for the vines to climb on. In a modern conception ofthis association, trees are not conceived as stakes but as an agronomical ressource for what they can provide. Actually, the trees provide wood for industry or cabinet-making, ofcourse, but they can also be refugees for predators of vine pests.

It has been shown that the trees can improve the agronomical efficiency of annual plants (wheat, …) but few studies had been conducted on the association of perennial plants undertemperate climates. That is one of the reasons why a French mediterranean administration choosed to convert one of its domains into an experimental field to test the interest ofassociating vines and trees on a same plot. The domain is divided into plots where several species of trees and 2 cultivars are tested when planted together or alone. The cultivars areGrenache noir and Shiraz. The main species of trees are Pinus pinea L. and Sorbus domestica L. The plantation of the vines occurred in 1997 ; trees were planted one year before. Twoplanting densities have been tested : 1 tree-row replacing 1 vine-row (high density) or 1 tree-row replacing 2 vine-rows (low density).

The results show the characteristics of the harvest (quality and quantity) and vine shoot production in 2010 and 2011 for the two cultivars, regarding the distance to the row of treesand the sunlight exposure of the rows of vines.

The main information is that the examined parameters are not affected by the presence of trees when planted at more than 5 metres from the vines. Reversely, when the vine to treedistance is below 5 meters, the competition leads to a lower production and reduced growth. This is due to trophic more than hydric factors.

From these results, it is now possible to propose a way of associating vines and trees on a same plot with an optimized agronomic income.