Speaker
Description
- Introduction
Viticulture is facing emerging challenges not only because of the effect of climate change on yield and composition of grapes, but also of a social demand for environmental-friendly agricultural management. Adaptation to these challenges is essential to guarantee the sustainability of viticulture. Grapevine varieties are susceptible to fungal attacks, insects, and wood diseases (Mian et al., 2023). In 2016, French vineyards exhibited a notably high Pesticide Treatment Frequency Index (Fouillet et al., 2023), thereby presenting potential risks to groundwater, air quality, soil integrity, and human health. Transitioning to low-input viticultural systems is urgent. This study uses DEXiPM (DEcision eXpert for integrated Pest Management) to evaluate sustainability across economic, social, and environmental pillars in low-input vineyard systems. The Rieutort vineyard watershed (France, Hérault) serves as a case study, adopting a participatory approach. Interviews with winemakers characterized the area and its pesticide use. A role-playing game was used to design agricultural practice change strategies. DEXiPM Grapevine qualitatively evaluates innovative and virtual cropping systems. Strategies are simulated to assess sustainability and compared with initial situations. This study focuses on DEXiPM Grapevine simulations and results to identify promising sustainable vineyard systems for broader regional adoption. - Materials and Methods
Types of Vineyard Operations Considered: Data from a survey in the Rieutort watershed provided information on 23 vineyards. Four types were considered: HEV-Coop mixed, HEV-Coop 100% PGI, Organic -Saint Chinian, and PDO-Saint Chinian.
Evaluation of Low-Input Vineyard Systems Sustainability:
Presentation of DEXiPM Grapevine Tool: DEXiPM Grapevine operates based on a detailed and transparent tree structure, aggregating simple information to estimate complex variables.
Number of Simulations: Co-designed strategies by experts and local actors were simulated with DEXiPM Grapevine to evaluate their impact at the farm and watershed scales to assess practice changes. -
Results
Sustainability of HEV-Coop mixed Strategies: Initial situations showed low environmental, medium economic, and high social sustainability. Co-designed strategies significantly improved sustainability across all pillars.
Sustainability of HEV-Coop 100% PGI Strategies: Initial situations showed low environmental sustainability. Co-designed strategies improved environmental and economic sustainability but slightly decreased social sustainability (Figure 1A).
Sustainability of Organic -Saint Chinian- Strategies: Initial situations exhibited high sustainability across all pillars. Co-designed strategies further improved environmental sustainability while maintaining economic and social sustainability.
Sustainability of PDO-Saint Chinian- Strategies: Initial situations showed medium environmental sustainability and high economic and social sustainability. Co-designed strategies significantly improved environmental sustainability (Figure 1B). -
Discussion
DEXiPM Grapevine highlighted modest sustainability improvements, primarily in environmental pillars across all vineyard types. Expert-co-designed strategies showed better sustainability enhancements compared to locally designed ones. Key practice changes included herbicide elimination, cover crop development, and adopting resistant varieties. However, DEXiPM Grapevine only provides qualitative evaluations of system sustainability and does not simulate changes in pesticide content or yield outcomes. Further studies using mechanistic models could provide detailed insights into these aspects. - Conclusion Adopting low-impact viticultural practices requires system redesign at various scales. The RippViti project aimed to develop and evaluate pesticide reduction strategies at a vineyard territory scale. This study evaluated environmental, economic, and social sustainability of innovative strategies using DEXiPM Grapevine. Most evaluations showed improved environmental performance without compromising economic and social sustainability. The widespread adoption of proposed agronomic strategies could lead to reduced environmental impacts in vineyard practices.
Acknowledgments This study was conducted as part of the Ripp-Viti project, supported from 2020 to 2023 by various ministries and the French Biodiversity Office. References are available upon request.
References
Mian, G., Musetti, R., Belfiore, N., Boscaro, D., Lovat, L., & Tomasi, D. (2023). Chitosan application reduces downy mildew severity on grapevine leaves by positively affecting gene expression pattern. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 125, 102025.
Fouillet, E., Delière, L., Flori, A., Rapidel, B., & Merot, A. (2023). Diversity of pesticide use trajectories during agroecological transitions in vineyards: The case of the French DEPHY network. Agricultural Systems, 210, 103725.
Gary, C., Dubuc, M., Metral, R., & Fortino, G. (2015). DEXiPM Vigne®(version 1.0), un outil pour l’analyse de la durabilité des systèmes de culture viticoles. Manuel des entrées de DEXiPM Vigne®.
| Keywords | participatory approach; sustainability; viticulture; Mediterranean region |
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