Modern viticulture in southern Europe: Vulnerabilities and strategies for adaptation to water scarcity
Section snippets
The wine grape industry in south Mediterranean Europe
World’s wine production sites are located in a wide geographical and climatic range, often in mid-latitude regions characterized by climate variability and stressful environments, such as the Mediterranean region (Fraga et al., 2013, Lionello et al., 2014). The European Union (EU-28), is the world’s leader in wine production with about 50% of world’s vine-growing area and about 60% of total volume of production (USDA, 2014). France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Portugal are the five leading EU
Stomata, leaf temperature and water use efficiency
Tolerance/resistance to drought and heat stress involves combination of several traits and mechanisms that can be morpho-anatomical, physiological and hydraulic (Chaves et al., 2010, Carvalho et al., 2015). Understanding the physiology and biochemistry related to stomatal regulation and their response to abiotic stress (e.g. drought) is crucial to understand plant responses to the environment and to improve plant water relations and WUE (Roelfsema and Kollist, 2013, Tsegay et al., 2014).
Water saving strategies
Irrigation is one of the most effective tools to manipulate berry yield and quality in dry areas (Costa et al., 2007, Romero et al., 2010, Forbes et al., 2009, Flexas et al., 2009). Deficit irrigation (DI) based on the application of water below the water losses by the crop, has been largely pointed out as a reliable technique to improve water savings and productivity in grapevine (Santos et al., 2003, Chaves et al., 2007, Medrano et al., 2003, Medrano et al., 2015) (Table 1). The strategy
Sustainability standards and water use indicators
The wine industry, just like any other intensive agribusiness activity or sector’s of industry has an environmental impact that must be obligatorily taken into account. Although wine production is one of the most innovative and competitive industries at global scale, the environmental issues remain overall poorly perceived (Barber et al., 2009, Marshall et al., 2005, Christ and Burritt, 2013). Therefore a more objective quantification of its environmental impact is crucial particularly in terms
Consumer perspectives and marketing
Consumer awareness of sustainable winegrowing and winemaking remains low and the concepts such as “sustainable product” or “sustainable processes” are confounded with vague terms e.g. “organic” and “green” (Zucca et al., 2009). However, the perception on the assessment of environmental and economic sustainability of wine’s supply chain by stakeholders is increasing and becoming a concern for growers, entrepreneurs, consumers and public decision makers (Point et al., 2012, Strano et al., 2013,
Final considerations
Future scenarios for the Mediterranean viticulture encompasses approaches at different levels (from plant physiology to consumer behaviour) to guarantee a more economically and environmentally sustainable wine production. The sustainable use of water is of outmost importance and must be guaranteed at the vineyard, winery and regional levels (Table 1). Therefore, future strategies to optimize the environmental performance of the wine sector in the Mediterranean must be focused on water. This
Acknowledgements
This research received funding from European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement no. FP7-311775, Project INNOVINE. J. Miguel Costa and R, Egipto had a scholarship from INNOVINE. JM Costa was also funded by FCT (SFRH/BPD/93334/2013), Portugal. We also thank the support from the Research unit GREEN-it “Bioresources for Sustainability” (UID/Multi/04551/2013). This work was also performed with financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and
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