Approaches to grape growing Flashcards
Conventional viticulture
- Intensive fruit farming during second half of the 20th century. Aside from small scale artisan grape growing, this new approach was widely implemented around the world, viticulture became a monoculture.
- The aims are raising production levels and reducing labour requirements, achieved by mechanization, chemical inputs, irrigation and clonal selection.
- Vineyards were kept weed free by ploughing between the rows and spraying with herbicides. The use of agrochemicals in the vineyard to control pest and disease was also significantly increased.
- By the late 20th century there was an increasing realization that spraying pesticides on a regular basis and routine use of mineral fertilizers were harmful to the soil, expensive, detrimental to the environment, workers and consumers. This is a huge concern today and major vineyard regions/produces are increasing efforts to reduce the quantity of chemicals used.
Advantages of conventional viticulture (monocultures)
- Ability to machines work in the vineyard
- Reduction of competition from other plants
- Ability to tend to the specific needs of the grape planted; Irrigation, nutrition level, treatment against hazards, pest and disease) and increase yields while reducing costs
Disadvantages of conventional viticulture (monocultures)
- Any plants in a monoculture are much more prone to disease (common fungal diseases) and pests and therefore need more treatments or protection.
- Nutrients can be depleted as there is no natural ecosystem to replenish nutrients, requiring more applications of fertilizers
- Residual chemicals can find their way into ground water or the air, creating environmental damage
Sustainable viticulture
- Focused on economic, social and environmental sustainability
- Aims to promote the natural ecosystem in the vineyard, maintain biodiversity, manage waste, minimize applications of chemicals and energy use, and reduce the impact of viticulture on the wider environment.
- Growers are encouraged to develop in-depth undressing of the lifecycles of the vine and vineyards pests and to monitor weather forecasts so that they can predict and prevent a pest or disease outbreak before it occurs. Rather than simply following a spraying calendar, this enables them to time the applications so that they have the greater impact. As a result, fewer applications are needed.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
- Also know as lutte raisonee is a key part of sustainable agriculture. Build on some of the principles of organic viticulture, but is prepared to use chemical interventions when necessary.
- It includes setting thresholds at which actions need to be taken, identifying and monitoring pests, setting up preventative measures, and evaluating and implementing control options.
- Grape growers regularly monitor the scale of potential problems and only intervenes before they reach an economic threshold (when the level of damage will exceed the cost of intervention). They seek to anticipate problems, to boost the vines own defense mechanisms and to act at the most effective time. This helps to limit serious damage, reduces the amount of chemical needed, save costs and prevent plants building up resistance to those chemicals.
Advantages of sustainable viticulture
- It’s a more thoughtful approach to grape growing, with attention to the economic, social and environmental impact of viticulture
- Significant understanding of the threats to successful grape growing minimizes the number of interventions needed
- A reduction in the spraying of synthetic and traditional treatments
- It’s saving costs because less applications are needed
Disadvantage of sustainable viticulture
- The term is not protected, can be used to promote wine without a clear set of standards
- The danger that nationwide standards for sustainability can be set too low.
Organic viticulture (key features)
Seeks to improve the soil of the vineyard and the range of microbes and animals within it, increasing the health and disease-resistance to the vine. It rejects the use of man-made (synthetic) fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides.
The key features are:
- Application of compost, which breaks down in the soil providing nutrients for vines and improves the structure and increases the biomass in the soil
- Cover crops are used to prevent soil erosion and contribute to the improvement of life in the soil. Which can be done through ploughing them in (green manure) or by improving biodiversity
- Natural fertilizers may be used (animal dung, calcium carbonate) to restore the natural balance of the vineyard
- The monoculture of vineyards can be reduced by growing cover crops, planting hedges and establishing ‘islands’ of biodiversity
Traditional remedies in organic viticulture
Sulfur and copper sulfate are used to combat mildews. The weather is monitored closely to determine when spraying is really necessary.
However, build-up of the heavy metal, copper, in the soil were frequent sprays are necessary had led some to conclude that careful use of longer-lasting synthetic chemical sprays would be a better option for the environment.
Organic growers may also use natural predators and ecosystem mechanisms. For example to defend against grey rot, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis can be introduced, which compete with botrytis cinerea for space on the grape. Sexual confusing techniques can also be used, they disrupt the mating patterns of insects such as mots and mealy bugs, and limit their populations
Certification bodies for organic viticulture
Most organisations operate similar but the exact standard may be slightly different. Therefore, confusingly, some wines made from organically grown grapes have been subjected to stricter rules than others
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
All certification bodies should meet the standers set by IFOAM and all vineyard must undergo a minimum period of conversion working to organic standards before it can be certified.
Evaluate the costs/benefits of organic viticulture
Certification adds an extra cost to the production of wine. However, the grape grower may gain an advantage in promoting and selling such wine depending on the target consumer and market
Organic viticulture may lead to slightly lower yields than conventional grown grapes and some additional coast can come from additional labour.
However, this is likely to vary around the world. In cool climates it’s more difficult to mange without chemical spray and in some countries labour costs will be higher than in others.
The fastest growth in farming organically is in La Mancha where it is hot and drier which makes it easier for conversion
Advantages of organic grape growing
- Making the health and disease-resistance of the vine and the health of the soil central aims of the grape grower
- The reduction of chemical treatments in the vineyard and the elimination of spraying synthetic chemicals which also saves costs
Disadvantages of organic grape growing
- Generally, a possible small reduction in yield and a significant reduction in yield in difficult years (long period of rainfall/humidity)
- Increased reliance on copper spray, which may lead to the build-up of heavy metal in the soils
- The cost and time expended on certification is high
Biodynamic viticulture
- Mainly practiced by smaller scale grape growers and estates, including some of the most prestigious (DRC). Particularly popular in the Loire Valley
- Rudolf Steiner and Maria Thun
- Includes organic practices but also incorporates philosophy and cosmology.
- Vineyard is seen as part of a connected system with the planet Earth, the air and other planets.
- Practitioners adapt their grape growing practices to coincide with the cycles of the planets, moons and stars
- Like organic grapes growers, they use traditional chemical sprays against diseases, including sulfur and copper sprays.
