Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Environmentally
Sound
Economically
Feasible
Socially
Equitable
Figure 6.10
Three overlapping sustainability
circles. (Graphic courtesy of the Californian
Sustainable Wine Growing Alliance)
winegrowers can assess their current practice against best-management practices,
enabling them to identify their strengths and weaknesses and so develop plans for
improvement.
Table 6.3 shows an example of the performance categories for the organic
matter criterion of soil management in the CSWP. Note the emphasis in table 6.3
is on practices that lead to an increase in soil organic matter (SOM) and hence
sustainability (proceeding from category 1 to 4); but this particular criterion can
be “skipped” if SOM is sufficient for a winegrower's soil type. The latter quali-
fication illustrates the difficulty with all sustainability indices, such as SOM, in
that benchmark values should be established for each environment and broad soil
class, as pointed out in “Benchmarking for Soil Health” earlier in this chapter.
Examples of other countries operating a sustainability winegrowing program
are New Zealand (
www.nzwine.com)
, South Africa (
www.ipw.co.za)
, Switzerland
(
www.vitiplus.ch
), and Australia (
www.wfa.org.au/entwineaustralia/)
. Certain
principles are fundamental to all these systems in that self-assessment, education,
training, and reporting are very important components. Although some systems
have an auditing procedure and issue certificates of compliance, for others the
existence and administration of environmental protection and food safety laws
impose the necessary constraints on winegrowers.
The aforementioned sustainability programs vary greatly in the extent to
which soil conditions and management are taken into account. For example, the
program Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand requires members to develop a
soil management plan, reviewed every three to five years, that has protocols for
soil sampling, soil management, and sustainability. Soil types in the vineyard are
identified and soil tests carried out every three years. Much emphasis in soil man-
agement is placed on SOM and the soil's biological condition. Overall, the New
Zealand program for soil and nutrient management to achieve optimum produc-
tion and environmental outcomes is very comprehensive.
