Terroir 2008 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Soil management of interrow spacing as an important factor to protect the vineyard soils from runoff and erosion under the Mediterranean climate

Soil management of interrow spacing as an important factor to protect the vineyard soils from runoff and erosion under the Mediterranean climate

Abstract

Nearly one third of the Herault vineyard (south of France) is planted on soils very sensitive to water runoff and erosion. This sensitivity is reinforced by the Mediterranean rain regime, characterized by sudden and violent rainfalls during autumn and spring, by the slopes of the plots, the bare surface of the inter-row spacing and the poor organic matter content of the upper part of these soils. The effects on the vine landscapes and production can be noticeable.
The soil management is one of the more influent parameters on the risk of runoff and erosion. By now, most of the vineyard soils are maintained bare all the year round by either soil tillage or chemical weeding.
A 7-years experiment (2000-2006) was set up on a 1 ha surface plot to compare the effects of soil management on runoff, soil erosion and agronomic results. It aimed to compare chemical weedings (antisprouting or defoliating herbicides), soil tillage and permanent grass covering 50% of the surface. Results show that permanent grass cover reduces runoff by nearly 50 % compared to chemical weeding, thanks to a better infiltrability. This leads to a significant decrease of erosion with a cover grass (1.4 T/ha/y) compared to chemical weeding (8.5 T/ha/y).
There were few effects on the production : the grass cover induces less yield (-16%) and less growth (-27% in weight) compared to the rest of the plot.
The soil was little affected by the cultural practices. The main result is that the grass cover made the soil microbiology live again, with an increase of 48% of the total microbial biomass.
The results of this experiment are significant enough to give advice on the best way to manage the vine according to the plot characteristics, to avoid runoff and erosion.

DOI:

Publication date: December 8, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2008

Type : Article

Authors

William TRAMBOUZE (1), Patrick ANDRIEUX (2), Guillaume COULOUMA (2), Patrick ZANTE (3), Nathalie GOMA-FORTIN (1)

(1) Chambre d’Agriculture de l’Hérault, 15 rue Victor Hugo, F-34120 Pézenas, France
(2) INRA, UMR LISAH (INRA-IRD-Supagro), Campus SupAgro bâtiment 24, 2 pl. Pierre Viala, F-34060 Montpellier Cedex, France
(3) IRD, UMR LISAH (INRA-IRD-Supagro), Campus SupAgro bâtiment 24, 2 pl. Pierre Viala, F-34060 Montpellier Cedex, France

Contact the author

Keywords

Vigne, Erosion, Ruissellement, Pratiques culturales, Biologie du sol

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2008

Citation

Related articles…

How the physical components of the terroir can differently intervene in French wines DPO definitions.Example of Côte de Nuits in Burgundy

European regulations describe what elements must be given in the specifications of DPO determination ; mainly production conditions, links between quality and products characteristics and the physical traits of the production area. These elements are given in the “link to terroir” paragraph relating natural and human factors, detailed product characteristics linked to the geographical area and at last interactions between product originality and the geographical area.

A fine-scale approach to map bioclimatic indices using and comparing dynamical and geostatistical methods

Climate, especially temperature, plays a major role in grapevine development. Several bioclimaticindices have been created to relate temperature to grapevine phenology (e.g. Winkler Index, Huglin Index, Grapevine Flowering Véraison model [GFV]).

Technological possibilities of grape marc cell walls as wine fining agent. Effect on wine phenolic composition

Fining is a technique that is used to remove unwanted wine components that affect clarification, astringency, color, bitterness, and aroma. Fining involves the addition of adsorptive or reactive material in order to reduce or eliminate the presence of certain less desirable wine components and to ensure that a wine remains in a particular stable state for a given period of time Recently concerns have been raised about the addition of animal proteins, such as gelatin, to wine due to the disease known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad Cow disease). Although the origin of gelatins has been moved to porcine, winemakers are asking for substitute products with properties and application protocols similar to the traditional animal-derived ones, making the use of plant-derived proteins in fining a practically viable possibility. As a consequence, various fining agents derived from plants have been proposed, including proteins from cereals, legumes, and potato.

Perception, liking and emotional response of tropical fruit aromas in Chardonnay wines

Tropical fruit aromas in wines are thought to be important to wine consumers, although there is little research to confirm this statement. With so many wine styles available, it has become important to understand the qualities that are desirable to consumers and how to achieve those qualities. Thiols and esters are compounds that have been found to cause tropical fruit aromas in chardonnay (ref). Fermentation temperature gradients and skin contact were found to increase these compounds using micro scale fermentations. This work aimed to scale up these fermentations/operations to determine if the desired tropical fruit aromas could still be achieved and if there is a perceivable difference in tropical fruit aromas, liking, and emotional response in the wines at the consumer level.

Effects of mechanical leafing and deficit irrigation on Cabernet Sauvignon grown in warm climate of California

San Joaquin Valley accounts for 40% of wine grape acreage and produces 70% of wine grape in California. Fruit quality is one of most important factors which impact the economical sustainability of farming wine grapes in this region. Due to the recent drought and expected labor cost increase, the wine industry is thrilled to understand how to improve fruit quality while maintaining the yield with less water and labor input. The present study aims to study the interactive effects of mechanical leafing and deficit irrigation on yield and berry compositions of Cabernet Sauvignon grown in warm climate of California.