Sustainable Viticulture for Climate Change Adaptation

The main objective of the LIFE VineAdapt project is to increase native biodiversity in vineyards to maximise related ecosystem services regarding pest control, soil biota, humification (soil organic content), erosion protection, water retention, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Eight partners from Austria, France, Germany and Hungary will combine existing knowledge to demonstrate resource-saving and climate-adapted vineyard management practices. Demonstration and pilot actions will evaluate, optimise and disseminate biodiversity management methods based on an ecosystem-based approach for vineyards on a transnational level, adopting them into wider practice.
Resource-saving methods to be implemented for stress reduction of vine plants caused by climate change include resource-efficient fertilization and demand-orientated drip irrigation. Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by decreasing fertilizer input and fewer machine (e.g. tractor) operations. In changing the usual management practice of understory vegetation in non-organic vineyards, pesticides like glyphosate will be substituted.