Stomatal behaviour of three minority grapevine varieties grown in the La Mancha region (Spain)

Pruning is one essential vineyard management activity whose main purpose is to regulate plant growth and vigour, modulating berry size, and consequently, wine quality. In Chilecito, La Rioja Province, Argentina, Torrontés Riojano stands as the only autochthonous variety for winemaking, yielding golden and aromatic berries and distinctive muscatel-tasting wines. This white cultivar, resulting from the natural cross between Moscatel de Alejandría x Criolla Chica, is traditionally trained in “parral” (horizontal trellis system), aimed to manage vigorous canopies. This project constitutes the first study on the influence of pruning intensity on Torrontés Riojano growth habit and berry quality.

The SUSTAIN project aims at assessing the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and vulnerability in vineyard in a climate change scenario.

Aims: DOSAVIÑA® was developed with the aim of helping farmers to determine optimal volume rates for spray applications in vineyards. The final developed tool is a good example of bringing research to end users.

In a context of reducing herbicide use, the most part of French vineyards are developing permanent grass cover crops on inter-rows alleys, while under the row chemical weeding remains the general case. The setting up of a controlled grass cover crop under the vine row could be a complementary alternative to mechanical weeding – which one is very restrictive – interesting from a technical and economical point of view. The present study aimed at assessing agronomic impacts of grass cover crop under the row in different climatic conditions and production objectives.

A unique “terroir” can be found in southern Bolivia, which combines the specific features of climate, topography and altitude of high valleys, with the management of grapevines staked on trees. It is one of the rare remnants of agroforestry viticulture. A survey was carried out among 29 grapegrowers in three valleys, to characterize the structure and management of these vineyards, and identify the services they expect from trees. Farms were small (2.2 ha on average) and 85% of vineyards were less than 1 ha. Viticulture was associated with vegetable, fruit and fodder production, sometimes in the same fields. Molle trees were found in all plots, together with one or two other native tree species. Traditional grapevine varieties such as Negra Criolla, Moscatel de Alejandría and Vicchoqueña were grown with a large range of densities from 1550 to 9500 vines ha-1. From 18 to 30% of them were staked on trees, with 1.2 to 4.9 vines per tree. The management of these vineyards (irrigation, fertilization and grapevine protection) was described, the most particular technical operation being the coordinated pruning of trees and grapevines. Three types of management could be identified in the three valleys. Grapegrowers had a clear idea of the ecosystem services they expected from trees in their vineyards. The main one was protection against climate hazards (hail, frost, flood). Then they expected benefits in terms of pest and disease control, improvement of soil fertility and resulting yield. At last, some producers claimed that tree-staking was quicker and cheaper than conventional trellising. It can be hypothesized then that agroforestry is a promising technique for the agroecological transition of viticulture. Its contribution to the “terroir” of the high valleys of southern Bolivia and its link with the specificities of the wines and spirits produced there remain to be explored.