BREEDING AND INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON CHEMICAL PESTICIDES IN GRAPEVINE

Project Information

SHIELD4GRAPE

Grant agreement ID: 101135088

DOI

10.3030/101135088

EC signature date 9 November 2023

Start date 1 February 2024

End date 31 January 2028

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 4 697 312,50

EU contribution

€ 4 697 312,50

Coordinated by

CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SHIELD4GRAPE (BREEDING AND INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON CHEMICAL PESTICIDES IN GRAPEVINE)

Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2025-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Climate change and environmental degradation have been challenging Europe and the whole world. The EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 is a comprehensive, ambitious and long-term plan to preserve nature and reverse the ecosystem degradation. Grapevine (Vitis spp.) is one of the major fruit crops worldwide, and although viticulture is a leading sector of the EU agro-industrial economy, it is the cropping system with the highest use of agrochemicals and with a high risk of biodiversity loss. The poor exploitation of biodiversity in grapevine represents a serious limitation, as an effective and timely response to the today's global and rapidly changing challenges will be feasible only if the variability of genetic resources is as large as possible.
The overall objective of SHIELD4GRAPE (S4G) is to implement sustainable agroecological approaches contributing to the improvement of resilience of the grapevine agri-food systems against pest diseases in a context of climatic changes. S4G will i) exploit grapevine biodiversity and identify new resilience traits; ii) implement breeding activities, including new breeding techniques and mutagenesis; iii) introduce safer and more sustainable strategies against pathogens. Demonstration fields will be set up in all the most important EU regions interested in viticulture to improve the efficacy of applied integrated pest management protocols in combination with the new resilient genotypes. S4G aims to support farmers and researchers, to provide advisory services and actors in value chains by establishing an interrelated community that will facilitate exchange of knowledge and of the best practices at different levels and socio-economic resilience. S4G will contribute to safeguard the territory, human health, farmers, the population living in grape-growing areas and consumers.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

SHIELD4GRAPE’s objectives will be achieved by applying approaches specifically tailored to the different resilient genotypes.
Exploitation of grapevine biodiversity and identification of new traits for resilience. The most interesting resilient accessions were characterized morphologically and genetically to identify key tolerance-associated traits. The interaction between pathogens and these resilient accessions were analysed by integrating different Omics.
Breeding activities. The first strategy encompassed the implementation of traditional breeding activities on local varieties. The second one relied on the New Genomics Techniques (NGTs), which can represent the future of genetic improvement in plants with the production of cisgenic and edited grapevines. The third breeding approach addressed in S4G was the induction of mutations in embryogenic tissues and regeneration of plants (somaclones) with improved tolerance to environmental stresses.
Field trials and IPM. S4G associated selected resilient genotypes with application of specific IPM strategies. Various IPM strategies were applied to different genotypes in different experimental/demonstrative vineyards. The effect of diverse IPM protocols was tested using multi- and transdisciplinary approaches. The preservation of beneficial endophytes and pollinators will be considered, and fungicide residues will be evaluated.
Socio-economic tools. The impact of field-tested innovative approaches was evaluated by using a holistic multi-criteria methodology that integrated environmental, economic and social tools/indexes. Semi-structured interviews and surveys by questionnaire were developed to collect primary and representative data about current management practises, drivers and barriers in the adoption of new/rediscovered grapevine genotypes
Knowledge networking. The S4G consortium invested efforts to dissemination and demonstration activities, targeting researchers, students, farmers, producers, agricultural advisors, consumers, and policy makers. These actions spread knowledge among the different actors by sharing the science outcomes and best practises across the diverse agro-ecosystems.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The Vitis genus is characterised by a high but still little exploited genetic diversity. Viticulture is the agricultural sector with the highest use of pesticides, as its specialization and intensification has made it increasingly susceptible to pest and disease out-breaks as well as to climate change effects.
SHIELD4GRAPE breaks through the state of the art by investigating novel breeding strategies and IPM to boost the development of new grapevine varieties with improved tolerance to relevant diseases and better adapted to local environmental conditions.
The progress beyond the state-of-the-art:
In S4G, the resilience of minor/local/neglected varieties to biotic factors was evaluated using leading technology, and the most interesting genotypes were characterized.
S4G has been identifying new resilience traits starting from the high genetic variability available in the Consortium and focusing on traits associated to general tolerance to multiple diseases by integrating multi-Omics approaches.
S4G has increased the availability of new grapevine genotypes resilient to pest diseases using different techniques to fully satisfy the needs of all EU territories, rules and socio-cultural contexts.
S4G developed tailored SynComs to prime grapevines against environmental stresses. S4G has been implementing different IPM strategies, specific for the target grapevine genotypes (local varieties, resistant hybrids, somaclones), and has been validating protocols in different EU biogeographical regions.

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