PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Excessive usage of chemicals in agriculture – and particularly on highly pest/disease susceptible fruits and vegetables - poses numerous risks to human and animal health, natural ecosystems, and the wider environment.
One such crop is grapes, an economically important fruit crop mainly grown in Mediterranean countries such as Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Greece. It is susceptible to many fungal diseases, including downy mildew and grapevine trunk diseases. These diseases have the potential to cause substantial production and economic losses, drastically reduce the quality of the produce, and put the longevity of the vineyards at risk.
However, the excessive usage of chemical fungicides against such diseases raises concerns due to negative impacts on human health and the environment. One specific concern relates to the excessive usage of copper-based fungicides, above all in the management of downy mildew. As a result of the year-on-year use of such fungicides, soil from vineyards is heavily polluted by copper. In addition, copper is deposited on the fruit surfaces and can penetrate fruit itself. Therefore, restrictions have been imposed by the European Commission on the frequency and on the maximum quantity of copper fungicides allowed per year (Directive 2009/128/EC). As a result, there is an urgent need to identify environmentally friendly fungicides which can replace, at least in part, copper-based ones.
An additional problem is the high amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from one hectare of vineyard, which is estimated at almost 1.5 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year. One of the farming practices which contributes to emissions is the on-field burning of crop residues. Hence, there is also a clear need to investigate options of re-using or re-processing such biomass to mitigate the environmental footprint of vineyards.
OBJECTIVES
The NATURA AGRO project aims to develop a range of innovative and environmentally friendly plant protection products (PPP) that can efficiently and economically tackle the main vine diseases, such as grapevine downy mildew and grapevine trunk diseases. In parallel, the project aims to investigate circular economy models for the efficient re-use of vineyard biomass residues, including the extraction of principles with fungicidal action.
The project’s specific objectives are to:
- Develop innovative natural PPP formulations for vineyards using circular inputs. The new PPSs will be based on a reduced (or zero) content of copper, a mix of essential oils plus a micronised carrier, already patented.
- Assess the efficacy and economic impacts of the new PPP formulations and lay the foundation for their commercial exploitation.
- Certify the new PPP formulations and related manufacturing practices.
- Develop an IT-based decision-making support for vineyards.
- Ensure that the project’s results are replicable and transferable to other crops in other EU countries.
- Ensure the sustainability and replicability of the project’s results through approval of the PPPs in Italy by the end of the project.
- Reuse biowaste for the project’s purposes instead of incinerating it.
RESULTS
The project’s expected results are:
- Chemical (environment): Copper accumulation in soil will be reduced from a start value of 1 kg/hectare (ha) per treatment (current value in 2022) to 0.25 kg/ha by 2028 (first year of full commercialisation)
- Waste management: Reduction of biowaste (vineyard crop residue) from 1.5/2.5 tonnes/ha (initial value) to 0.75 tonnes/ha by 2028.
- GHG emission: Reduction in CO2-equivalent from 1.4 tonnes / tonne of biomass incinerated in 2022, to 0.6 tonnes.
