Crop growth, carbon sequestration and soil erosion in an organic vineyard of the Villány Wine District, Southwest Hungary

Abstract

A more resilient adaptation to changing climate calls for crop diversification in vineyards, too. As a contribution to the H2020 collaborative project of the European Union, called Diverfarming, and part of the agroecological experiments during 2018 and 2019, grapevine biomass growth was monitored in connection with carbon storage types in soil and in the deposits removed by soil erosion. Phenometry was carried out interpreting segmented images to follow changes in biomass. It was found that crop growth could be best described by the Richards growth function. The distinction between grapevine and intercrop growth, however, requires further refinement in image analysis. In the laboratory TOC and Ntotal were measured for both the soil and the plant organs as well as for the eroded sediments. Greenhouse gas emissions and photosynthesis were monitored. Looking at the change of Leaf Area Index (LAI) over the growing period, image analysis pointed out the role of cut shoots from pruning in the C and N cycles. Maximum leaf area (at ripening) for guyot cultivation technique was extimated at 7,840 m2 ha-1. Soil loss by erosion was established by sediment traps at the end of vinestock rows. The grain size distribution analysis led to the remarkable result that as erosion proceeded, the ratio of the sand fraction increased but remained within the range for the textural class of loam. Organic matter contents grew to 38 g kg-1. The rate of soil erosion is higher in ploughed than in grassed interrows by orders of magnitude.

The Health of Vineyard Soils: Towards a Sustainable Viticulture

“…In addition to terracing, which is an engineering practice that tries to hold the soil in place by physical containment, cover crops can also be used to decrease soil erosion [184,185] and to improve water-holding capacity and overall soil condition, hence reducing reliance on industrial fertilizers [151,176,186,187], although not as effectively as terracing [188]. Pappalardo et al [178] estimated that by using a 100% ground-covering inter-row cover crop, the erosion in the Prosecco wine-growing area could be curtailed by 67%.…”

Szőlőterületek eróziójának térbeli modellezése a Neszmélyi borvidéken felszínközeli távérzékelés segítségével

“…Degradációról akkor beszélünk, amikor a talajképződés már nem képes lépést tartani az emberi tevékenység által felgyorsított talajpusztulás mértékével (Stefanovits 1992). A talajerózió vizsgálata napjainkban is fontos kutatási téma nem csak nemzetközi, de hazai szinten is (Waltner et al , 2020Dezső et al 2020).…”

Effect of Standard Disk Plough on Soil Translocation in Sloping Sicilian Vineyards

“…It is not only a Mediterranean issue restricted to the three main producers: Italy [1,2], Spain [3,4], and France [5]. Emerging wine producer regions also face similar problems [6][7][8]. Vineyards are mainly located in sloping terrains, and this is the key question for the high erosion rates [9] but also the mismanagement for centuries with intensive ploughing and the lack of sustainable management [10][11][12].…”