Sustainability of Machinery Traffic in Vineyard

Abstract

Viticulture involves significant levels of machinery traffic, causing heavy soil compaction. In particular, the compaction of the subsoil is increased; a deep tillage could certainly solve the problem, but the risk of damage to the plants’ root system is high. The aim of this study was to investigate the trend of both the top- and the sub-soil compaction in a hillside vineyard located in Tuscany (Italy), investigating different machine-implement combinations, i.e., self-propelled machinery or narrow tractor coupled to implements. The tests were repeated periodically along the entire growing season, approximately every 6–8 weeks (end of May, end of July and first decade of October). A single test included at least 50 sample measurements, recorded randomly along each inter-row investigated. In the surveyed field, the inter-rows were alternatively covered with grass, or tilled in the top layer during the previous wintertime. Two experimental test sets were developed: the first involved the use of two implements (a sprayer and a grape harvester) towed by narrow tractors, while in the second the pesticide distribution and the harvesting were performed with a properly equipped self-propelled tool carrier. All the other farming operations were executed using the same implements in both cases. Balanced use of the self-propelled tool carrier and the traditional tractor-implement combination allows a better distribution of the soil compaction (in particular in the top-soil), thus improving the root-growing efficiency.

Water Use and Soil Water Balance of Mediterranean Vineyards under Rainfed and Drip Irrigation Management: Evapotranspiration Partition and Soil Management Modelling for Resource Conservation

“…In addition, the response of grass cover plot was less influenced by traffic conditions. In fact, the increased mechanization in vineyards is frequently associated with increased soil compaction due to repeated tractor passes on fixed paths [10,15], which increases runoff and soil erosion, mainly in sloping vineyards. This soil loss is particularly important when the soil is left bare in the inter-row and exposed to intense rainfall events [16,17].…”

The Health of Vineyard Soils: Towards a Sustainable Viticulture

“…Specifically for vineyards, studies have shown that subsoil compaction is predominantly caused by the machinery wheel load and not by the tillage operations themselves [204]. In addition to the soil condition during the pass, i.e., mainly the soil water content, factors such as the tire pressure and the number of passes over the same track are the primary drivers of local soil compaction [205]. Interestingly, high tire-inflation pressure is associated with greater soil compaction because it reduces the area contact between tire and soil [202,203,206].…”

Using deep learning for pruning region detection and plant organ segmentation in dormant spur-pruned grapevines

“…As an example, mechanical pruning of single-wire cordon trained Barbera grapevines was effective in reducing the labour demand from 60 h/ha to 25 and 17 h/ha depending on different intensities of manual follow-up (Gatti et al, 2011 ), whilst minimal pruning was completed in less than 20 h/ha in Australian vineyards (Clingeleffer, 2013 ). However, the most advanced spur pruning technology is still represented by non–selective mechanical operations requiring manual follow-up (Poni et al, 2016 ), and the use of heavy combustion-engine powered tractors in vineyards contributes to soil compaction and increases the overall carbon footprint (Longbottom & Petrie, 2015 ; Pessina et al, 2021 ).…”