Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
a pest, a photo of the pest, and a photograph of the vine damage it
causes, to connect photos of pests with overwintering and egg-laying
sites, and to connect photos of pests with cultural practices and natural
enemies that can control them without the use of pesticides. The work-
book is a tool for systematic self-evaluation in every aspect of winegrape
farming systems, integrating sustainable and quality winegrape growing
practices. The workbook helps growers to measure the level of their
adoption of integrated farming system practices, and to identify action
plans to increase these. 32 It has laid the foundation for additional agro-
ecological initiatives in Lodi and other California winegrape growing
regions.
California's leading wine and winegrape industry organizations, the
Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers
respectively, recognized the value of the Lodi partnership, the Central
Coast partnership, and two other local partnerships. In 2001, these two
statewide organizations partnered to develop a “Code of Sustainable
Winegrowing Practices.” Jeff Dlott guided its development, and he facil-
itated monthly meetings for a year and a half with 50 prominent
vineyard and winery leaders. Its primary audience consists of vineyard
managers and winemakers, but its sponsors are trying to appeal to all the
people and institutions (neighbors, regulatory agencies, input suppliers,
customers) with whom the industry interacts.
The Code adopted the four-point scoring system for viticultural prac-
tices in its entirety from the Lodi workbook. The Code takes a whole
systems approach to winegrape growing, wine production and distribu-
tion, including social and environmental criteria. Grower outreach with
the Code is through half-day workshops, in which vineyard and winery
managers work through the topic, learn about the criteria of sustainabil-
ity promoted by the Code, and assess their own operations in light of this.
It represents an integrated approach to “winegrowing,” because work-
shop participants evaluate their vineyard and/or winemaking operations.
Agroecology and the Landscape of Risk
As growers increase their reliance on agroecological strategies they
undertake new risks. Chemical-intensive agriculture entails risks, but
generally produces a more consistent result on an annual basis than does
 
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