Conventional management of the vineyard entails the intensive use of all available resources, to maximize the crop yield in terms of productivity and efficiency per unit of land.
Chemical fertilizers are synthetic substances used in agriculture to provide essential nutrients to plants, primarily nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, to enhance crop productivity and yield. Fertilizers play a pivotal role in modern agricultural systems, maintaining the balance of nutrients in the soil and enhancing plant growth.
However, the use of chemical fertilisers has been the subject of debate. Although they have contributed to increased food production, their excessive and unbalanced use has led to significant environmental and health concerns.
Scientific advancements highlight their detrimental effects on soil health and groundwater quality; the problems caused by chemical fertilisers extend beyond environmental concerns. They include serious risks to human health and long-term agricultural sustainability issues. * These findings underscore the urgent need to find , alternatives to mitigate the negative impacts of chemical fertilizers while meeting global food requirements.
Organic Viticulture
Pesticides used in agriculture include herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, nematicides and rodenticides. Herbicides account for the largest market share (approximately 40%), followed by insecticides (17%) and fungicides (10%). These chemicals are used to control weeds, insects, diseases, and other pests that threaten crop production. However, the widespread use of pesticides has led to significant environmental and health problems. They pose risks to human health and the natural environment, affecting beneficial groups of insects, aquatic species and soil microorganisms. Pesticides can accumulate in soil and water, causing damage to ecosystems and loss.
While pesticides play a crucial role in increasing agricultural productivity and feeding the growing human population, their use has significant costs for ecosystems and human health. The negative impacts of pesticides underscore the need for more sustainable agricultural practices, such as integrated pest management and the development of biological medicines, to protect both the environment and human well-being.
Viticulture is an intensive agricultural sector characterised by a high degree of land use (Roselli et al., 2020). However, in recent years, organic viticulture is starting to spread to larger areas (Meissner et al., 2019). Organic viticulture is mainly concentrated in Europe (over 85% – OIV, 2019). Among European countries, Spain, Italy and France have the majority of organic vine-growing areas (Mann et al., 2012)
In 2019, a total of 63 countries on all continents participated in organic viticulture, and the certified organic vineyard area was estimated at 454 kha, representing 6,2% the total area of vineyards worldwide.
Organic viticulture is a method of growing grapes that implements sustainable, environmentally friendly practices without the use of synthetic chemicals. Key principles include maintaining soil health, using biological control and organic substances to manage pests and diseases instead of synthetic pesticides, preserving biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Organic viticulture uses water-saving practices.
European research in recent years has offered winegrowers various soil management solutions with lower fuel consumption and less aggressive with soil and the environment (Dobrei et al., 2015). Also, there are currently effective alternatives to replace conventional fertilisers and classic disease and pest control schemes to achieve quantitative and qualitative grape production compared to conventional viticulture, in more environmentally friendly conditions (Merot et al., 2020). However, these new solutions must be carefully selected, according to the specificities of each variety, the soil and climate factors of each grape growing area and the technical and economic potential of each vineyard (Dobrei et al., 2016).
To cope with current climate, socio-economic and environmental changes, farmers must modify their farming systems to reduce environmental impact while ensuring sustainability and profitability at farm level (Wery and Langeveld 2010).
Experimental results show that synthetic chemical plant protection can be replaced by more environmentally friendly but less effective ingredients (biocontrol) and increased prevention of pest recurrence (e.g. in vineyards, Lafond et al. 2013). These measures require more information on the state of plants and diseases at field level and a deeper understanding of how the different components of the cultivation system work to adapt interventions appropriately (Léger and Naud 2009; Barzman et al. 2015). In turn, this will likely lead to an increase in the complexity of the cultivation system.
Sources
Sales, L.R.? Rigobelo, E.C. The Role of Bacillus sp. in Reducing Chemical Inputs for Sustainable Crop Production. Agronomy 2024, 14, 2723. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14112723
Tziolas, E.? Karampatea, A.? Karapatzak, E.? Banias, G.F. Balancing Efficiency and Environmental Impacts in Greek Viticultural Management Systems: An Integrated Life Cycle and Data Envelopment Approach. Sustainability 2024, 16, 9043. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209043
Merot, A., Wery, J. Converting to organic viticulture increases cropping system structure and management complexity. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 37, 19 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-017-0427-9
OIV https://www.oiv.int/organic-viticulture-is-gaining-terrain.
