Proceedings of the 20th GiESCO International Meeting (2017)

Lobesia botrana is a quarantine pest for Argentina, detected in 2010 in Mendoza. Earlier stages of larvae feed on flowers and fruits. Wounds allow the development of fungi that decreases yield and quality. INTA is studying a phenological model based on day-degrees to predict the pest behavior. The study was conducted since 2015 in five different microclimatic growing areas of Mendoza. 30 pheromone traps have been used at each monitoring site.

Cultivated grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is highly susceptible to several fungal and fungal-like diseases such as powdery mildew (PM) and downy mildew (DM), which require large use of pesticides for their containment. In other crops, knock-out mutations of host genes controlling susceptibility to such diseases have proven a successful strategy to obtain resistant plants.

The use of natural fertilizers such as silicon and calcium chloride is a potential strategy to improve grape resistance versus fungal diseases due to changes in berries physical characteristic and secondary metabolites synthesis.

Through the damage of nematodes plant pathogenic funguses contribute to the final devastation of the grape in enhanced extent. We set it as an objective to examine the density and rate of fungi and nematodes of three vineyards thatonly differ in the cultivation methods applied on them which are Intensive, Extensive and None.

Wine grape growers in California's North Coast region recorded severe outbreaks of the exotic pest, Virginia creeper leafhopper (VCLH) (Erythroneura ziczac) in 2011-2012, resulting in devastating damage, particularly in organic vineyards. An initial assessment determined that these outbreaks were due to a lack of biological control and poor understanding of management control practices for E. ziczac, which can easily be confused with the more common western grape leafhopper (E. elegantula).

Pesticides in agriculture may cause undesirable effects on the environment. In Mendoza, these products are sprayed mainly for the control of Lobesia botrana and fungal diseases. The impact on agricultural environment may differ depending on the crop protection strategies.

In the current context of climatic, socio-economic and environmental changes, vinegrowers have to modify their farming systems to reduce environmental impacts while still assuring profitability at farm scale. Organic farming appeared to be an interesting production mode to face these changes.

Lobesia botrana is a pest that attacks mainly the cultivation of the vine in Argentina, therefore it is essential to carry out controls to avoid losses in production. However, the use of insecticides can generate residues in the grape. In order to achieve an innocuous end product, suitable for consumption and competent in national and international markets, without exceeding the tolerances required, it is necessary to know the dissipation of insecticides in a field.

Mineral oils (such as paraffin oil) have been used for a long time for disease control in vineyards. However the mode of action of this substance have not been studied yet. Our examinations highlighted that paraffin oils do not have a direct fungicide effect against neither the mycelia nor the conidia of Erysiphenecator, the causing agent of powdery mildew.

Substantial economic losses occur in grapevines due to Botrytis Bunch Rot (BBR). The control of this disease is still largely based on periodic anti-Botrytis specific fungicide spraying. Therefore, protection strategies must be optimized in order to reduce pesticide applications.