Vine Rows Research Articles

TEHNOLOGII ȘI SOLUȚII CONSTRUCTIVE PRIVIND MANAGEMENTUL INTERVALULUI DINTRE RÂNDURILE DE VIȚĂ DE VIE ȘI POMI FRUCTIFERI

The management of inter-row space of vineyards and fruit trees has emerged as an essential approach in sustainable agriculture, optimizing resource use and improving ecosystem services. This paper reviews a range of innovative technologies and solutions aimed at revolutionizing line management practices. Modern sensing and monitoring systems provide real-time data on soil moisture, nutrient levels, and plant health, facilitating precision row-to-row management. Furthermore, techniques for grassing the space between rows of vines and fruit trees are important for space management, ensuring good air circulation and facilitating agricultural activities such as maintenance and harvesting. In addition, the advent of inter-row seeding machines simplified the implementation of cover crops. These machines use advanced seed delivery mechanisms, precisely distributing the cover seed into the spaces between the rows. This not only encourages soil health and erosion prevention but also mitigates weed competition, increasing the overall resilience of the agroecosystem. The purpose of this review is to discuss the combination of state-of-the-art technologies such as 3D LIDAR technology, intelligent systems used for inter-row management of vines and fruit trees, and inter-row solar panel systems, all these examples have revolutionized inter-row management in vineyards and orchards. This holistic approach optimizes resource allocation, improves soil health, and encourages sustainable agricultural practices, paving the way for greener and more resilient inter-row spaces in modern agroecosystems.

A Regional 100 m Soil Grid-Based Geographic Decision Support System to Support the Planning of New Sustainable Vineyards

A WebGis tool called GoProsit has been developed to support winegrowers in planning a new sustainable vineyard and in the identification of high-quality terroir in Tuscany, Central Italy, by providing various information on soils, climate, hydrological risks, and fertilization. GoProsit, hosted by the web platform GEAPP, is a free, user-friendly, and interactive Geographic Decision Support System (GDSS). Soil data behind the WebGis tool has a 1 ha resolution, achieved by processing the legacy vector-type soil database of the Tuscany Region with the DSMART (Disaggregation and Harmonization of Soil Map Units Through Resampled Classification Trees as supervised classification) algorithm, which disaggregated the map to 297,023 vineyard grid cells. Each grid cell holds climatic and pedologic information, along with physical and chemical features for each horizon of the most probable soil. GoProsit also provides soil maps in image format obtained by georeferencing about 50 historical soil maps (1969–2012). Finally, GoProsit runs and returns the outputs of six models: (a) carbon footprint, (b) potential erosion and maximum vine row length compatible with tolerable erosion, (c) potential water stress, (d) risk of runoff/waterlogging, (e) identification of suitable rootstocks, and (f) nutritional needs before planting. Statistics of the main model results for the investigated area are reported. This promising tool will soon be usable for the whole Italian territory; however, its potential makes it suitable for use in any wine-growing district.

Effectiveness of Management Zones Delineated from UAV and Sentinel-2 Data for Precision Viticulture Applications

How accurately do Sentinel-2 (S2) images describe vine row spatial variability? Can they produce effective management zones (MZs) for precision viticulture? S2 and UAV datasets acquired over two years for different drip-irrigated vineyards in the Colli Morenici region (northern Italy) were used to assess the actual need to use UAV-NDVI maps instead of S2 images to obtain effective MZ maps. First, the correlation between S2 and UAV-NDVI values was investigated. Secondly, contingency matrices and dichotomous tables (considering UAV-MZ maps as a reference) were developed to compare MZ maps produced using S2 and UAV imagery. Moreover, data on grape production and quality were analyzed through linear discrimination analyses (LDA) to evaluate the effectiveness of S2-MZs and UAV-MZs to explain spatial variability in yield and quality data. The outcomes highlight that S2 images can be quite good tools to manage fertilization based on the within-field vigor variability, of which they capture the main features. Nevertheless, as S2-MZs with low and high vigor were over-estimated, S2-MZ maps cannot be used for high-accuracy input management. From the LDA results, the UAV-MZs appeared slightly more performant than the S2-MZs in explaining the variability in grape quality and yield, especially in the case of low-vigor MZs.

Field Tests of a Cultivator Proceeds between Row Soils in Vineyards

The article presents the results of theoretical and experimental testing of the machine made as a result of the research on the basis of the scheme and parameters of the cultivator, which processes the soil between rows and rows of vines with a low cost, including vine rows with soil hardness varying between 1.4-1.8 mPa, the circumference of the bushes and The required tractor power is 21.53-35.09 kW when the resistance changes in the range of 12.41-16.37kN when moving the range of working speeds in the range of 1.45-1.8 m/s. In the tillage system, it is important to loosen the rows between the vines without overturning them. Gray soil soils in Uzbekistan have different mechanical composition and are very poor in humus. Cultivation of the vineyard soil at a depth of 20-25 cm for many years leads to the formation of a plow heel, as a result of which the water-physical properties of the soil and the development of the root system deteriorate, which negatively affects the growth and yield of the plant. The leaves of the vines turn yellow, they drop their leaves early, the amount of fruits that can be obtained decreases, and accordingly the percentage of fruits that fall to the ground increases. A decrease in the water permeability of the soil prolongs the irrigation time, as a result of which water is used inefficiently. Deep softening improves the water permeability of the soil and, accordingly, increases the coefficient of effective plant use of moisture entering the soil.

Determining the depth of immersion of combined machine ridge harvesters and the dimensions of the ridges produced by them

The article discusses the outcomes of theoretical research focused on determining the optimal depth of immersion for combined machine cultivators used in preparing garden and vine rows for monoculture planting, along with the corresponding dimensions of the cultivators they form. The study specifically addresses the planting of vegetable crops between these rows, with a standard width of 70 cm. Considering the typical growth pattern of these crops in bush form, with heights ranging from 10-15 cm and widths of 33-37 cm at the top, it was concluded that the immersion depth of the combined machine’s bushes should be adjusted within the range of 8.5-14.9 cm to meet agrotechnical requirements effectively.

Assessing the Impact of Erosion and Farming Practices on the Spatial Distribution of Topsoil Characteristics in a Sloping Vineyard Using an Open-source QGIS Software

Erosion is one of the major threats that negatively affect agricultural soils. Several studies indicated that sloping vineyards are prone to soil erosion due to the soil management method. This study was conducted in a sloping vineyard planted in 2019 (with a slope of 100 and a slope length of 38 m) in Thu Cuc commune, Tan Son district, Phu Tho province, Vietnam. The main objective of the study is to evaluate soil characteristics (pH, particle-size distribution, organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC), N, P, and K macronutrients) related to terrain morphology, soil erosion, and farming practices. The open-source QGIS software was used to evaluate the spatial distribution of the soil characteristics. We found that the organic matter content, CEC, and clay content in the soils taken at the footslope zones were higher than those at the top of the hill as a result of soil erosion. In contrast, higher contents of K and silt were observed at the top of the hill compared to the footslope, indicating an unapparent impact of soil erosion on these two factors in the studied vineyard. Phosphorus was evenly distributed throughout the plot and influenced by the soil characteristics. Indeed, a strong correlation between total P content and soil pH, organic matter, and silt content was revealed in our study. On the other hand, cultivation practices exerted a significant impact on the prevailing accumulation of soil organic matter, CEC, total N, and clay particle size at the lower part of the vine rows following the horizontal flow. The vine rows were planted along the contour lines rather than the dominant slope of the vineyard can explain this tendency. In addition, no cover crops sown between the vine rows probably resulted in intense soil erosion at the steepest part of the terrain. Overall, the terrain morphology and farming practices played an essential role in the spatial distribution of soil characteristics. Therefore, integrating geographic information systems into building a digital database and predicting the spatial distribution of soil parameters is necessary to perform soil quality monitoring and serve sustainable land management.

The organic mulches in vineyards exerted an influence on spontaneous weed cover and plant biodiversity

The current trend toward sustainable agricultural practices creates a demand for alternatives to conventional soil management. One of the main problems for farmers is the competition for water and nutrients of weeds with the crop and the complicated management that this entails. Conventional practices such as tillage and the use of herbicides are commonly used and imply high environmental impacts while organic mulches could be an attractive sustainable alternative for soil management. Therefore, the 3-year effect of different soil management practices with organic mulches on the control of spontaneous weeds in the vine row has been studied. Three types of organic mulches [grapevine pruning debris (GPD), straw (SM) and spent mushroom compost (SMC)] and two conventional soil management methods [in-row tillage (TILL) and herbicide (HERB)] were compared on a vineyard in North Spain. For this purpose, the percentage of soil covered by weeds (PWC), the presence of each species and its effect on the vine development, and the weed community formations were analysed in each soil management. In addition, soil nutrition, soil temperature and soil water content were measured. On the one hand, SM and GPD mulches limited the presence of weeds (<30%), reducing the need for tillage maintenance and improving soil integrity. On the other hand, SMC produced excessive weed growth (>85%) that could be a problem for the farmer. Of the conventional practices, the TILL treatment was strongly affected by the timing of agricultural work and environmental conditions, with large variability between years. The results indicated that the application of organic mulches reduced the percentage of species with a harmful effect on optimal vine growth and increased plant diversity and its benefits for the ecosystem. Organic mulches are an effective alternative for soil management due to the improvement of the chemical and physical properties of the soil, the increase in the water content of the soil, the reduction of heat stress and the percentage of noxious species for optimum vine growth.

The Blood of the Colony: Wine and the Rise and Fall of French Algeria by Owen White (review)

Reviewed by: The Blood of the Colony: Wine and the Rise and Fall of French Algeria by Owen White Kolleen M. Guy White, Owen–The Blood of the Colony: Wine and the Rise and Fall of French Algeria. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2021. 319 p. French Algeria was the fourth-largest wine producer in the world for much of the twentieth century. And, yet, there has been no comprehensive study of wine and the vine in Algeria since the publication of Hildebert Isnard’s La vigne en Algérie: étude géographique in the 1950s (volume 1 in 1951, and volume 2 in 1954). Writing at a moment when Algerian vineyards were on the frontline of a nationalist insurrection, Isnard’s two-volume work was based on an impressive albeit limited range of archival sources. It has remained the starting point for scholars interested in colonial agriculture and the culture of the vine in North Africa—until now. With the publication of Owen White’s magisterial study, we have a comprehensive overview of the vine and wine in Algeria that makes use of new archival collections and new methodological approaches. The result is an essential read for anyone interested in French wine, environment, race, and the aggressive capitalism of imperialism. [End Page 236] It was the aggressive capitalist pursuit of commodities that shaped the early French colonizer’s vision of the landscape of Algeria. Agricultural production in North Africa, including the cultivation of vines for wine, was diverse and thriving at the time of conquest. What the early colonists saw, however, was not success but “potential.” French inspection after 1830 projected the ecology of southern France on North Africa with rows of grain, olive trees, and grape vines enhanced under an agricultural mission civilisatrice. Much like in other colonial ventures, the European-born settlers and planners experimented with the best path to extract wealth. Land appropriation and diminished property rights for Indigenous Algerians led to widespread destruction of local forms of cultivation. Great hopes were placed by colonial advocates in crops like tobacco and cotton that would complement the metropolitan economy. By the late 1860s, with the colony running a commercial deficit and famine and other hardships facing those on the land, settlers turned away from these experiments and returned to crops that had long been cultivated by Indigenous Algerians, including the vine. It would be a mistake, however, to see the spectacular rise in vine cultivation after 1870 as inevitable. White makes a case that the expansion of the Algerian vineyard had a gold-rush quality where gamblers who were willing to place bold bets might reap big payoffs. Some of the high stakes gamblers built fortunes by betting on vineyard expansion just as the metropolitan wine production was crippled by a still unnamed vine blight. Smaller players with ties to Europe were also able to improve their fortunes through some well-timed gambles on land, vines, or allied services, such as barrel making or wine transport. Phylloxera was a wild card, however, creating opportunities and ruining fortunes when it eventually was discovered on Algerian vines. White argues that the combination of phylloxera and market fluctuations made for the consolidation of land in the hands of banks and wealthy investors. This reality did not deter the creation of the myth of the French “colonizing genius.” By 1892, Jules Ferry toured the Algerian vineyards highlighting what he saw as the heroic achievement of colonization and the role of vines in “consecrating” the land to assure it was “fully and authentically French” (p. 64). Vines became a symbol of the “spirit of enterprise” in the French colonial project. While South Africa had its “Randlords” with portfolios based on a similar rush for gold and diamond extraction, Algeria now had what White calls “vinelords” with fortunes and political power based on vast tracts of vine monoculture and vertical investments (p. 79). On the eve of the Great War, Algeria exported more wine than any other region of the world. With this new global position came a “refashioning of the land and the shaping of local identities” (p. 79). These local identities, in the first half of the twentieth century, were shaped...

Plant Growth and Soil Water Content Changes under Different Inter-Row Soil Management Methods in a Sloping Vineyard.

The main objective of this study was to investigate soil-plant-water interactions based on field measurements of plant reflectance and soil water content (SWC) in different inter-row managed sloping vineyards. The following three different soil management applications were studied: tilled (T), cover crops (CC), and permanent grass (NT) inter-rows. We measured SWCs within the row and between rows of vines. Each investigated row utilized 7 to 10 measurement points along the slope. Topsoil SWC and temperature, leaf NDVI and chlorophyll concentrations and leaf area index (LAI) were measured every two weeks over the vegetation period (May to November) using handheld instruments. We found that management method and slope position can significantly affect the soil's physical and chemical properties, such as clay or soil organic carbon contents. Cover crops in the inter-row significantly reduced average SWC. The in-row average topsoil SWCs and temperatures were lower in all study sites compared to the values measured in between rows. Significantly higher SWCs were observed for the upper points compared to the lower ones for CC and T treatments (58.0 and 60.9%, respectively), while the opposite was noted for NT. Grassed inter-row grapevines had significantly lower leaf chlorophyll content than the other inter-row managed sites (p < 0.001). The highest average leaf chlorophyll contents were observed in the T vineyard (16.89 CCI). Based on slope positions, the most distinguishable difference was observed for the CC: 27.7% higher chlorophyll values were observed at the top of the slope compared to the grapevine leaves at the bottom of the slope (p < 0.01). The leaf NDVI values were not as profoundly influenced by slope position in the vineyard as the chlorophyll values were. For overall LAI values, the T treatment had significantly lower values compared to NT and CC (p < 0.001). Moderate correlations were observed between NDVI and LAI and soil nitrogen and carbon content. In general, we found that both inter-row management and slope position can significantly influence soil parameters and affect plant growth, and consequently can accelerate plant stress under sub-optimal environmental conditions such as prolonged drought.

The vineyard as a therapeutic landscape of the mind: preliminary results of a pilot study

IntroductionYoung people represent a vulnerable population, with 75% of mental disorders first emerging before 25 years of age. This pilot stems from the acknowledged need to design and test non-stigmatizing programs that are appealing to young people and suited for the protean mental health problems that they experience.ObjectivesThe study involves a group of youths (aged 16-25) with different forms of mental ill-health in a locally and culturally meaningful activity, namely hand-harvesting grape in the renowned area of Langhe (Italy). The aim is to investigate viticultural practices as possibly effective in supporting recovery by promoting social interaction and fostering a sense of belonging in the broader process of winemaking.MethodsThe project is multidisciplinary in its design and implementation, involving psychiatrists, psychologists, rehabilitation specialists and sociologists. Research methods include clinical assessment, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with the participants.ResultsDuring the harvest season, a stable group of participants has been involved in a one-to-one relationship with professional vine growers. This relational geometry was built around the performance of a practical task: that of filling in a box with manually harvested grape and moving it along the rows of vines. Within each dyad, which represents the most fragile and intimate of all social forms, practical knowledge has been conveyed from the experienced worker to the youth. Most importantly, the repeated encounters provided an opportunity for human interaction and exchange that went beyond the activity being performed, involving the gradual disclosure of self, the ability to listen, connect and empathize with personal stories from diverse backgrounds. Participants’ narratives collected during and after the pilot describe the vineyard as a psychic more than a physical place – a landscape of the mind, structured around the emotional and sensorial contents of the experience. The study’s core finding emerging from fieldwork and youths’ accounts is the beneficial effects of the intervention on transdiagnostic factors such as social anxiety symptoms, low self-efficacy and poor social skills.ConclusionsThe pilot provides suggestions to orient meaningful and non-stigmatising programs for vulnerable young people, hosted in landscapes that can become therapeutic not by virtue of their aesthetic features, but because of the access they provide to social (i.e. opportunities for new relationships), material (occasions to create and share something tangible) and affective (promotion of positive emotions, containment of loneliness and feelings of inadequacy) resources.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations caused a shift of the metabolically active microbiome in vineyard soil

BackgroundElevated carbon dioxide concentrations (eCO2), one of the main causes of climate change, have several consequences for both vine and cover crops in vineyards and potentially also for the soil microbiome. Hence soil samples were taken from a vineyard free-air CO2 enrichment (VineyardFACE) study in Geisenheim and examined for possible changes in the soil active bacterial composition (cDNA of 16S rRNA) using a metabarcoding approach. Soil samples were taken from the areas between the rows of vines with and without cover cropping from plots exposed to either eCO2 or ambient CO2 (aCO2).ResultsDiversity indices and redundancy analysis (RDA) demonstrated that eCO2 changed the active soil bacterial diversity in grapevine soil with cover crops (p-value 0.007). In contrast, the bacterial composition in bare soil was unaffected. In addition, the microbial soil respiration (p-values 0.04—0.003) and the ammonium concentration (p-value 0.003) were significantly different in the samples where cover crops were present and exposed to eCO2. Moreover, under eCO2 conditions, qPCR results showed a significant decrease in 16S rRNA copy numbers and transcripts for enzymes involved in N2 fixation and NO2− reduction were observed using qPCR. Co-occurrence analysis revealed a shift in the number, strength, and patterns of microbial interactions under eCO2 conditions, mainly represented by a reduction in the number of interacting ASVs and the number of interactions.ConclusionsThe results of this study demonstrate that eCO2 concentrations changed the active soil bacterial composition, which could have future influence on both soil properties and wine quality.

Quantification of Intra- vs. Inter-Row Leaching of Major Plant Nutrients in Sloping Vineyard Soils

Nutrient leaching from agricultural soils presents an economic loss for farmers and can degrade the quality of the surrounding environment. Thus, leachates from 18 in situ wick lysimeters, installed at 40 cm soil depth at the vineyard hilltop, backslope, and footslope intra- and inter-row area (SUPREHILL Critical Zone Observatory, Croatia) were collected monthly over two years and analyzed for major plant nutrient ions. Our objectives were to quantify nutrient losses via leaching from the hilltop towards the backslope and to the footslope, and to compare leaching from vine plant rows (intra-row) with grassed areas between vine rows (inter-row). We found that the concentrations of nitrate, orthophosphate, and potassium were significantly higher in leachates collected at the footslope as compared to the hilltop and backslope only at intra- and not at inter-row positions, while ammonium was independent of the slope and row positions. The vineyard intra-row is identified as the probable spatial origin of nutrient leaching along the slope, thus confirming spatially different contributions of overall hillslope to major plant nutrients leaching. The experimental field scheme used in this study, which separately analyses vineyard intra- and inter-row, was confirmed to be an adequate approach for optimizing vineyard management practices.

GNSS-Free End-of-Row Detection and Headland Maneuvering for Orchard Navigation Using a Depth Camera

GPS-based navigation in orchards can be unstable because trees may block the GPS signal or introduce multipath errors. Most research on robot navigation without GPS has focused on guidance inside orchard rows; end-of-row detection has not received enough attention. Additionally, navigation between rows relies on reference maps or artificial landmarks. In this work, a novel row-end detection method is presented, which detects drastic changes in the statistical distribution of the sensed point cloud as the robot gets closer to the row’s end. A row-entry method was also implemented that builds a local map that is used by a reactive path tracker. The system was evaluated in a 24-row block in a vineyard. Once the robot was closer than 7 m from the end of a row, the algorithm detected it with a 100% success rate and calculated the distance from it with a mean error of 0.54 m. The system was also evaluated in vineyard configurations with parallel and slanted vine rows in consecutive blocks. The system worked well in all configurations, except where the next block had rows aligned to the rows of the current block and the headland width was closer than 5 m.

Under-vine cover crops: Impact on physical and biological soil proprieties in an irrigated Mediterranean vineyard

Despite their potential benefits, cover crops in vineyards under to Mediterranean climate conditions are still not widespread, especially in the vine row. This under-vine space is normally kept weed-free through the application of herbicides and/or tillage. In this work, we evaluate the effect of a Trifolium fragiferum L. under-vine cover crop (UV) on soil quality, as reflected by a variety of physical, chemical, and biological soil indicators. 15 months after under-vine cover crop implementation, total (SOC) and particulate (POC) organic carbon storage, and soil aggregation (abundance (WSA) and mean weight diameter (MWD) of water stable aggregates) were compared with a control without cover (T) at 0–15 cm. In addition, for three consecutive years after under-vine cover crop implementation, the evolution of soil microbial communities was monitored through the determination of soil basal respiration, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen (MBC and MBN), and community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs). The establishment of the under-vine cover crop resulted in higher values of SOC (27.78 Mg·ha−1 in UV vs. 20.71 Mg·ha−1 in T, +33%) and POC (4.75 Mg·ha−1 in UV vs. 2.73 Mg·ha−1 in T, +74%), as well as aggregation parameters (MWD: 1.82 µm in UV vs. 1.56 µm in T, +17% and WSA: 84.68% in UV vs. 71.58% in T, +18%). An evolution towards progressively greater values of biological activity (basal respiration) and microbial biomass was detected in under-vine cover crop soils as time elapsed. It was concluded that the Trifolium fragiferum L. under-vine cover crop led to soil quality improvement in our Mediterranean climate vineyard. Interestingly, this positive effect was noticed shortly after its implementation.

Exploratory approach for automatic detection of vine rows in terrace vineyards

The Alto Douro Demarcated Region in Portugal is the oldest and most regulated wine-growing region in the world, formed by an ecosystem of unique value allowing the cultivation of vines on its characteristics terraces vineyards. The detection of vine rows in terrace vineyards constitutes an essential task regarding the achievement of important goals such as multi-temporal crop evaluation and production estimation. Despite the advances and research in this field, most studies are limited to flat vineyards with straight vine rows. In this study an exploratory approach in the precision agriculture for automatic detection of vine rows in terrace vineyards is presented with remote sensing techniques associated with artificial intelligence such as Machine Learning and Deep learning. At the current stage the preliminary results are encouraging for the detection of vine rows in straight and curved lines considering the complexity of the terrain.

Responses of grapevines to planting density and training systems in semiarid environments

Aim. To investigate the physiological and agrobiological responses of grapevines on different systems of training systems in row plantations depending on the planting density and the possibility of adjusting plants for non-irri- gated crop cultivation under cold semiarid climate. Methods. The field two-way experiment of 2 × 4 was applied to study the effect of two planting density variants (3 × 1.5 m; 3 × 1 m) and four vine training systems (when the horizontal cordon is located at the height of 0.4 m, 0.8 m, 1.2 m, 1.6 m) on the parameters of the leaf area, leaf index, water loss through transpiration, activity of the photosynthetic apparatus of leaves and the yield of Zahrei wine grape cultivar (Vitis vinifera L.). The experiment data were processed using the analysis of variance. Results. The increase in the density of vine row plantations per area units from 3 × 1.5 m to 3 × 1 m enlarges the total leaf area, the exposed leaf area, water loss through transpiration, and yield weight, but these indices decrease in the evaluations per plant. The responses of grapevine to the training systems are similar and independent from the ex- perimental variants of planting density. At the height of the cordon of 0.4 and 0.8 m, the vertical shoot positioning enhances the potential of the photosynthetic capacity of the plantations, but this potential is realized only during the years with lower water deficit for plants. Free-growing shootings on the cordons, located at the height of 1.2 m, form the canopy architecture with relatively low water loss through transpiration which has a positive effect on the activity of the photosynthetic apparatus and yield, especially in dry years. The downward shoot positioning on the cordons of 1.6 m decreases the leaf area of the vines and creates the canopy architecture with increased transpiration which enhances the effect of the water deficit and has a negative effect on the productivity of plants. Conclusions. The agronomic methods of planting and training systems for grapevines ensure the management of the character of spatial shoot location, the formation of certain canopy architecture, and setting the parameters of the leaf area; their optimization mitigates the negative effect of water deficit and provides for adapting the plants for non-irrigated crops under semiarid climate. The positive effect of compacting plantations on crop yield was determined without irrigation in semiarid environments. The variant of planting density of 3 × 1 m decreases the yield on the vines on average by 12.1–31.0 %, as compared to the variant of 3 × 1.5 m. Yet, more dense plantations are remarkable for their yield, which is 18.5–61.3 % higher depending on the training system for vines. Under dry conditions, the most efficient system is the training system with the formation of the horizontal cordon at the height of 1.2 m and free-growing shoots. The system optimizes the leaf area density, and forms the canopy architecture with rather low water loss through transpiration which has a positive effect on the activity of the photosynthetic apparatus of leaves during droughts. Under free growth, the yield of the plantations increases by 4.3–12.3 % on average as compared to the vertical shoot positioning and by 21.3 % – under their downward positioning.

Two-stage automatic diagnosis of Flavescence Dorée based on proximal imaging and artificial intelligence: a multi-year and multi-variety experimental study

“Flavescence dorée” (FD) is a grape vine disease caused by the bacterial agent “Candidatus Phytoplasma vitis” and spread by the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus Ball (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). The disease is very closely monitored in Europe, as it reduces vine productivity and causes vine death and is also highly transmissible. Currently, the control method used against this disease is a two-pronged approach: i) the spraying of insecticide on a regular basis to kill the vector, and ii) a survey of each row in a vineyard by experts in this disease. Unfortunately, these experts are not able to carry out such a task every year on every vineyard and need an aid for planning their survey.In this study, we propose and evaluate an original automatic method for the detection of FD based on computer vision and artificial intelligence algorithms applied to images acquired by proximal sensing. A two-step approach was used, mimicking an expert’s scouting in the vine rows: (i) the three known isolated symptoms (red or yellow leaves depending on variety, together with a lack of shoot lignification and the presence of desiccated bunches) were detected, (ii) isolated detections were combined to make a diagnosis at image scale; i.e., vine scale. A detection network was used to detect and classify non-healthy leaves into three classes: ‘FD symptomatic leaf', 'Esca leaf' and 'Confounding leaf'; while a segmentation network was used for the retrieval of FD symptomatic shoots and bunches. Finally, the association of detected symptoms was performed by a RandomForest classifier for diagnosis at the image scale. The experimental evaluation was conducted on more than 1000 images collected from 14 blocks planted with five different grape varieties. The detection of the isolated symptoms achieved a precision of between 0.67 and 0.82 and a recall of between 0.39 and 0.59. The classification at the image scale obtained very good results when applied to images acquired under the same conditions, with the same grape varieties as the training images (precision and recall of more than 0.89). The results of the tests on the other grape varieties show the importance of having some of them in the training base in these AI-based approaches.

The Effect of Mulch Materials on Selected Soil Properties, Yield and Grape Quality in Vineyards under Central European Conditions

The results of this study provide overall information on the verification of the effect of applying two different mulching materials of an organic origin to the soil surface in the area between rows of grape vines in vineyards on selected physical and chemical properties of the soil and, at the same time, on the yield and quality parameters of the grape vines (Vitis vinifera L.). During the period under study, 2018–2020, the effect of shredded cereal straw (CS) and compost from garden waste (CO) was investigated. The control variant (CWC) was left without any cover and was regularly cultivated with a coulter cultivator to a depth of 60 mm. During the experiments, meteorological data were monitored and recorded along with soil temperature and soil moisture for each variant. The results show that the lowest temperature was measured for the straw cover variant (11.10–11.87 °C), while the highest soil temperature was measured for compost (11.93–13.16 °C). Under the straw, the moisture level in the soil was higher compared to the other variants, and there was a gradual increase (of 3%) in soil bulk density values compared to the baseline. By contrast, the compost variant showed a decrease (of 1%) in bulk density values. The differences in nutrient content were slight among the variants. The only statistically significant difference was identified for the compost variant with respect to the content of total nitrogen and phosphorus. Further results demonstrated a positive effect of both mulch material variants on grape yield, which was 6–19% higher in the variants with a cover layer. In addition, the use of mulch also had a positive effect on grape quality. For example, the sugar content—one of the main quality parameters—increased by 1–7% due to the mulch layer. Based on these results, the use of mulching materials can be recommended for areas with low total rainfall during the growing season, as well as when growing varieties with irregular yields and uneven grape quality.

3D point cloud density-based segmentation for vine rows detection and localisation

The adoption of new sensors for crop monitoring is leading to the acquisition of large amounts of data, which usually are not directly usable for agricultural applications. The 3D point cloud maps of fields and parcels, generated from remotely sensed data, are examples of such big data, which require the development of specific algorithms for their processing and interpretation, with the final aim to obtain valuable information about crop status.This manuscript presents an innovative 3D point cloud processing algorithm for vine row detection and localisation within vineyard maps, based on the detection of key points and a density-based clustering approach. Vine row localisation is a crucial phase in the interpretation of the complex and huge 3D point clouds of agricultural environments, which makes it possible to move the focus from a macro level (parcel and plot scale) to a micro level (plants, fruits and branches). The algorithm outputs fully describe the spatial location of each vine row within the whole 3D model of the agricultural environment by a set of key points and an interpolating curve. The algorithm is specifically conceived to be robust and: (i) independent of the adopted airborne sensor used to acquire the in-field data (not requiring a model with colour or spectral information); (ii) able to manage vineyards with any vine row layout or orientation (such as curvilinear) and (iii) not hindered by the occurrence of missing plants. The experimental results, obtained by processing the models of seven case study parcels, proved the algorithm’s reliability and accuracy: the automatic vine row detection was found to be 100% in accordance with the manual one; and the obtained localisation indices showed an average error of 12 cm and standard deviation of 10 cm, which is fully compatible with the considered agricultural applications. In addition, the algorithm outputs can be profitably exploited for enhanced path planning of autonomous agricultural machines adopted for in-field operations.

3D Distance Filter for the Autonomous Navigation of UAVs in Agricultural Scenarios

In precision agriculture, remote sensing is an essential phase in assessing crop status and variability when considering both the spatial and the temporal dimensions. To this aim, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is growing in popularity, allowing for the autonomous performance of a variety of in-field tasks which are not limited to scouting or monitoring. To enable autonomous navigation, however, a crucial capability lies in accurately locating the vehicle within the surrounding environment. This task becomes challenging in agricultural scenarios where the crops and/or the adopted trellis systems can negatively affect GPS signal reception and localisation reliability. A viable solution to this problem can be the exploitation of high-accuracy 3D maps, which provide important data regarding crop morphology, as an additional input of the UAVs’ localisation system. However, the management of such big data may be difficult in real-time applications. In this paper, an innovative 3D sensor fusion approach is proposed, which combines the data provided by onboard proprioceptive (i.e., GPS and IMU) and exteroceptive (i.e., ultrasound) sensors with the information provided by a georeferenced 3D low-complexity map. In particular, the parallel-cuts ellipsoid method is used to merge the data from the distance sensors and the 3D map. Then, the improved estimation of the UAV location is fused with the data provided by the GPS and IMU sensors, using a Kalman-based filtering scheme. The simulation results prove the efficacy of the proposed navigation approach when applied to a quadrotor that autonomously navigates between vine rows.