Chapter 4 Approaches to Grape Growing Flashcards
Define Conventional Viticulture
Grape growing became a monoculture be the second half of the 20th century.
It is intensive fruit farming.
What are the objectives of Conventional Viticulture?
Objectives: raise production and reducing labor by:
- mechanization
- irrigation
- clonal selection
- vineyards are kept weed free by plowing or using herbicides
- chemical inputs:
- increased use of mineral fertilizers
- increased use of agrochemicals to control pests and diseases
When was conventional viticulture widely adopted and when the grapegrowers realized the harmful effects of pesticides and minerals fertilizers were harmful?
It was widely adopted by the second half of the 20th century. Its effects on soil quality, environment, health of vineyards workers and even consumers were realized by the end of the 20th century by grape growers, consumers and legislators.
Advantages and disadvantages of conventional viticulture
Advantages:
- mechanization
- less competition for the vines
- increased yields at a minimum cost
Disadvantages:
- plants in monoculture are more prone to diseases and pests.
- soil gets depleted from nutrients and requieres more fertilizers
- environmental damages from residual chemicals affecting groundwater and air
- Consumer aceptance
Define Sustainable Viticulture
It has 3 themes: economic, social and environmental
- promote natural ecosystems
- maintain biodiversity
- manage waste
- minimize use of chemicals and energy
- reduce the impact of viticulture on the wider environment.
Explain how Sustainable Viticulture is done?
- Understand lifecycles of vine and pests
- monitor weather forecast to predict pest and disease outbreak.
- limit the use and application of products by timing them with the vines needs
- use integrated pest management
- same practices from organic viticulture
Advantages and disadvantages of Sustainable Viticulture
Advantages:
- consumer acceptance and marketing attention to economic, social and environmental impact
- less interventions by understanding of threats.
- less risk = reduction of synthetic and traditional treatments
- more effective = cost reduction
Disadvantages:
- the term is not protected and can be used.
- countries and regions define its standards and these can be set to low.
Define Integrated Pest Management
+ Objectives
Key part of sustainable viticulture. Based on organic viticulture but only uses chemical products when necessary.
Objectives:
They seek to anticipate problems, to boost the vine’s own defense mechanisms and to act at the most effective time.
Explain and give Advantages of integrated pest management
Explain:
- identifying and monitoring pests
- setting up preventative measures
- setting threshold when actions need to be taken
- evaluating and implementing control options
- only intervenes before they reach an economic threshold (i.e. when the level of damage will exceed the
cost of intervention)
Advantages:
- limit serious damage to the grape crop
- reduce the amount of chemicals used and save costs
- prevent weeds from building up resistance to those chemicals
How Integrated Pest Management is done?
- Know when to look for a named pest
- know what to look for
- see photos of pest and the damage it does to help identify and know when intervention is needed.
Define Organic Viticulture and objectives
Practices that rejects the use of synthetic fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides.
Objectives:
- improve the soil of the vineyard and the microbes and animals (worms).
- Increase health and disease resistance of the vine.
Explain how Organic Viticulture is done
- Application of compost that provides a slow release of nutrients, improves the structure of the soil and increases the biomass in the soil
- use of natural fertilizers
- cultivation of cover crops to prevent erosion and soil health
- reduction of monoculture
- use of natural remedies such of sulfur and copper sulfate.
- use of natural ecosystem mechanism, natural predators and sexual confusion techniques
Advantages and disadvantages of Organic viticulture
Advantages:
- the improvement of the health and disease resistance of the vine
- the improvement of the health of the soil
- the elimination of spraying synthetic chemicals
- a saving on the cost of synthetic chemicals
- consumer aceptance / fashionable
Disadvantages:
- a possible small reduction in yield generally
- possibility of significant reductions in yield in difficult years (e.g. long periods of rainfall or high humidity)
- increased reliance on copper sprays, which may in turn lead to the build-up of heavy metal in the soils
- the cost and time expended on certification where this is sought.
Define Biodynamic Viticulture
Set of practices that include organic viticulture but also includes philosophy and cosmology. It is based on the work of Rudolf Steiner and Maria Stun.
How Biodynamic Viticulture is done?
The practices in the vineyard are timed with the cycles of planets, moon and stars. it also uses preparations. 500, 501, 502, 507.
