Impact of mechanisation on soil loss in terraced vineyard landscapes

Abstract

Soil loss poses a threat to hilly and mountainous areas, particularly where local economies strongly depend on agricultural production. Among agricultural landscapes, vineyards are responsible for the highest erosion rates, particularly in steep-slope landscapes. The impact of vineyard mechanisation on soil loss is only marginally explored in published literature. This study provides an estimation of the annual soil loss rate by application of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in 24 terraced vineyards located in north-eastern Italy. Field observations showed that 13 vineyards consisted of fully mechanised fields, 5 vineyards had no form of mechanisation, while in 6 vineyards a mixture of practices was found. Soil erodibility (K factor) was derived for these practices (based on soil characteristics and varying degrees of compaction), while slope length and steepness (LS factors) were calculated from a 1-m LiDAR-based DTM, and remaining factors were based on datasets by the European Soil Data Centre. Mechanised fields showed 29% higher erosion rates than non-mechanised fields (respectively 53.9 and 69.5 t ha-1 y-1), although this is not statistically significant. Still, the direct impact of mechanisation is underestimated in this comparison, due to the predominant steep slopes in the manually cultivated fields. Furthermore, estimated soil loss from mechanised fields in addition to mechanised paths and roads is significantly higher by 37% than non-mechanised fields. This study thus offers an indication of how machinery and related soil compaction and transformation of terraces and infrastructure, increases soil loss risk.

Strategies in vineyard establishment to face global warming in viticulture: a mini review

“…Slope in vineyards may affect air flow canopy, soil drainage, water movement and erosion, the ease of working among grapevines, mechanization, and then ease of harvesting. [64][65][66][67][68] Flat vineyards are easy to mechanize and to harvest but they may be prone to cold air inversions in zones with spring cold frost, whereas a 5-7.5% slope allows a good air drainage, though at the expense of increasing erosion and mechanization concerns (Fig. 3).…”

“…3). 69 Grapevine management becomes more difficult at a vineyard slope greater than 15% since erosion and equipment rollover can be of concern 66 . Slope direction and steepness together with vineyard altitude determine the radiation received by the grapevines 42,70 .…”

Estimating Non-Sustainable Soil Erosion Rates in the Tierra de Barros Vineyards (Extremadura, Spain) Using an ISUM Update

“…On the other hand, using the USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) for the same area, Baimonte et al [38] over the 10-year period of observation quantified up to 3 Mg ha −1 with a maximum of 13.2 Mg ha −1 in 2014. In addition, in Italy, Pijl et al [60] applying the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in 24 terraced vineyards located in north-eastern Italy calculated from 53.9 to 69.5 Mg ha −1 yr −1 . In the Prosecco viticultural region, Pappalardo et al [61] modelled a potential soil erosion that could reach 300,180 Mg yr −1 , which represents 43.7 Mg ha −1 yr −1 .…”

Parametric Terracing as Optimization of Controlled Slope Intervention

“…Some authors state that the impact of mechanization is greatly under-explored in steep-slope cultivation systems, for example, for agricultural terraces [15]. Nonetheless, traditional terrace systems have been widely transformed to allow the use of machinery in recent decades [16], and newly planted vineyards have also been adapted for labor-saving mechanization [17].…”