The European Union’s “farm to fork” strategy sets out several objectives to be achieved by farmers, who, among others, relate to increasing biodiversity, protecting soils and reducing the use of ...pesticides. The use of pesticides in 235 winegrowers in the Palmela region was evaluated between 2016 and 2021. To support some of the answers, a socio-economic survey was also carried out. The data analysed included the number of treatments, the dosages used, compliance with the pre-harvest interval, the reason why winegrowers performed phytosanitary treatment and how they chose a pesticide. In addition, residue analyses were carried out at the entrance of the grapes into the winery to assess whether the MRL was exceeded and whether were not authorised pesticides were used in the vine. For each year, it was found that, on average, farmers spray seven times, although the trend was to decrease and the most used pesticide belong to groups 3 (Triazol), according to the FRAC Codes. It was concluded that fear of diseases and pests and “empirical experience” sometimes go beyond knowledge and technology. In addition, the weak valorisation of grapes and discouragement with the implementation of some poorly reported strategies are factors that fuel the concern about the difficulty in achieving the goals.
In current days, the major challenges for farmers are the impact of plant protection products (PPP) on the public health, the environment protection, residues reduction, bees and non-target ...organisms, as well as, the withdrawal of many active ingredients and climate changes. Given the current situation, sustainable use of PPP is a main objective and priority. The decisions making of using PPP of 235 winegrowers from Palmela region, which do not have regular technical assistance, were assessed during 2016 until 2019. The data analysed included the number of applications, the dosages used and the compliance of pre-harvest interval (PHI). For each year, it was observed that a winegrower, on average, made seven treatments, although the tendency is a decrease to reduce the number of treatments. The PPP most used belong to the groups 3 (Triazoles), M02 (Inorganic) and M04 + 4 (Phthalimides + Phenyl Amides) according FRAC Code. Regardless of the climatic conditions and the disease pressure in the vineyard, the winegrowers used PPP every 14 days. Fear and “empiric experience” sometimes overtake knowledge and technology. That could only be changed with trust between technical assistance and farmers. That could be the solution to face the mentioned challenges and to offer sustainable wines from Palmela region.
Since the last decade of the last century, it is known that many old grapevine varieties are descendants of other varieties through natural crossing. Portugal has an important program for the ...conservation of representative samples of intra-varietal variability of all autochthonous varieties, managed by the Portuguese Association for Grapevine Diversity (PORVID), which makes looking for genotypes with dubious identification an important activity from a perspective of its valorisation. This communication presents the results of the molecular analysis of 5,000 samples (accessions) from the PORVID’s collection, using nine microsatellite
loci
currently recommended by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) for genetic grapevine identification. The results obtained confirmed the molecular identity of 4,220 samples corresponding to 214 varieties present in the official list of Portuguese varieties. In 780 samples, 95 profiles with a plural number of accessions revealed not to be listed in the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) database, corresponding to possible varieties either descendent from natural crossing from at least one known parental variety, or from undetermined origin. Furthermore, the need for a comprehensive strategy aimed at uncovering other hidden varieties is discussed to prevent their imminent loss, deepen understanding of their origin, and add economic value and sustainability to the vine and wine sector.
