Abstract
Since 2006, an increasing number of French vineyards have chosen to convert to organic farming. One major change in vineyard practices includes replacing chemical pesticides with copper and sulfur-based products in line with Council Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007. This change can make overall management and pest and disease control more difficult and potentially lead to yield losses. From 2013 to 2016, a network of 48 vineyard plots, in southern France, under conventional management and in conversion to organic farming were monitored throughout the three-year conversion phase to investigate the grapevine phytosanitary management of four major pests and diseases and variations in control efficiency. The severity of downy and powdery mildew, grape berry moths, and Botrytis bunch rot were assessed and linked to the protection strategy. The findings showed that pests and diseases were controlled in the third year of conversion at similar efficiency levels as in conventional farming. However, the first two years of conversion were a transitional and less successful period during which higher incidences of cryptogamic diseases were observed. This demonstrates a need for winegrowers to receive more in-depth technical advice and support, especially on pest and disease control, during this critical transition period.
Highlights
To ensure food security while reducing the negative impacts of agriculture, farming systems must be designed and managed in line with ecological principles [1]
Pesticide use in viticulture is characterized by two specific features which include the following: (i) high quantities applied on a small area, i.e., an average treatment frequency index (TFI) of 15.3 full doses per hectare on 3% of the French agricultural area, and (ii) a predominance of fungicides (80% of treatments) to control mostly powdery mildew Erysiphe necator and downy mildew Plasmopara viticola
The Akaike information criterion (AIC) criteria led to select the model including the stage of conversion, the year, and the plot effect (C-YP model) as compared with other models containing, only, either the stage of conversion and the year (C-Y) or the stage of conversion and the plot (C-P)
Summary
To ensure food security while reducing the negative impacts of agriculture, farming systems must be designed and managed in line with ecological principles [1]. This agroecological transition involves multiple and interdependent changes in agricultural and farm management practices in relation to the whole agroecosystem [2,3]. Pesticide use in viticulture is characterized by two specific features which include the following: (i) high quantities applied on a small area, i.e., an average TFI of 15.3 full doses per hectare on 3% of the French agricultural area, and (ii) a predominance of fungicides (80% of treatments) to control mostly powdery mildew Erysiphe necator and downy mildew Plasmopara viticola
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