Next Generation Viticulture: Capture more light to harvest more grapes
Transforming canopy management systems to maximise sunlight could increase vineyard profitability without compromising wine quality, says researchers.
Iñaki is the Unit Director of the AgroClim group in Avignon and has spent four months at Lincoln University with Dr Amber Parker.
The LACCAVE project, an interdisciplinary collaborative programme in 28 research laboratories with 100 researchers, is investigating potential solutions for French agriculture to combat climate change. While climate change discussions usually focus on progressive increases in temperature, extreme events are becoming more regular and in many ways are more catastrophic. Unseasonal frosts (2021), floods (2016), fires and heatwaves (2019) have been experienced by French grapegrowers with dire consequences.
LACCAVE unifies French research to develop knowledge and adaptation strategies to climate change. While warming may enable adaptation strategies to climate change. While warming may enable new vineyard development in northern France, vineyards in the south, for example the Rhone valley, are at risk. Data collected from 90 plots over 50 years demonstrates changes in the composition of Grenache in the Rhone valley (Bécart et al., 2022, Oeno One, 56, 53-72). The data used in the analysis is available online.
To understand and accommodate the effects of climate change, they need to be considered at a local scale. The programme has established seven national "participatory forums" to consider the options for adaptation, which include the relocation of vineyards to the adoption of genetically modified organisms. Thirty-two strategies developed by 153 participants were grouped into five topics and investigated by growers on their own properties, small groups of growers with researchers who co-design projects, and living labs who share their observations. The results are shared on a web-based platform VINEAS.net and combined into a national wine strategy for the Government.
Iñaki's presentation made it apparent that the success of the programme came from its open access, and the willingness to share. The open access data has resulted in researchers in many countries using the data in their own research with the result France is gaining from their efforts, at no cost to the industry.
Iñaki's presentation is available online: youtube.com/watch?v=mqzoMmWxNbg
