Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
6. Given that synthetic chemicals, including fertilizers, are avoided in
organic and biodynamic systems, unless a nutrient budget is carried out,
grapevines in these systems can suffer deficiencies in the longer term.
The timing and nature of such deficiencies will depend on the soil's
natural fertility, any organic inputs, and vineyard management.
7. A healthy soil biota implies a population of organisms with activities
that are mutually beneficial. They can suppress undesirable organisms
that may be pathogenic and are not themselves harmful to plants.
These organisms should be diverse in form and function, ranging from
Archaea, bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, nematodes, and arthropods to
earthworms.
8. A vineyard and its soil can be managed for specific winemaking
objectives, ranging from small block, single vineyard wines that express
a site's individual
terroir
to wines that are consistent in style and quality
from year to year. The latter may require the blending of products
from larger and more widely separated areas. Whichever objective is
pursued, the winegrower may select from a variety of tools, including
precision viticulture, deficit irrigation and partial root zone drying for
water management, elements of organic viticulture, benchmarking
soil properties against optimum values, and adopting a sustainable
winegrowing program.
9. The present regions most favored for popular grape varieties may change
if climate change globally and, more important, regionally continues the
trend of the last 50 years of the 20th century, through higher growing
season temperatures, more variable frost events, and changing patterns
of rainfall. Water supplies for irrigation could become critical for hot,
inland regions.
10. To promote sustainable winegrowing, several wine-producing countries
have developed codes of best practice for viticulture and winemaking
as part of an integrated production system. The crux of such a system
is that winegrowing should be sensitive to the environment, responsive
to the needs and interests of society, and economically feasible to
implement and maintain—that is, to be environmentally, socially, and
economically sustainable.
11. Information about the properties of soil and its best management is
essential to attaining the objective of sustainable wine production.
Only when winegrowers take care of the soil, together with the other
components of production, can this objective be achieved.
