Timing, monitoring key to sustainable farming, says winemaker

Monitoring the spread of pests, conducting soil analyses, and learning how to intervene in plant health at the right moment are crucial in the switch to sustainable farming practices, an organic winemaker told EURACTIV.

The uptake of sustainable farming relies heavily on both the availability of solutions on the market and farmers’ knowledge of new methods.

“It’s definitely a different concept of agriculture, but a very action-oriented one,” said Alex Bianchini, a third-generation winemaker from Italy, in an interview with EURACTIV.

Bianchini works in the family winery, which produces 300,000 bottles divided into eight different labels annually. Bianchini, along with his sister Ester, works alongside a team of 22 others to do the work on the farm, run the warehouse where they organise guided tours and tastings, and keep up with administrative tasks.

Their estate, Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, stretches for over 400 hectares in an area close to Castelnuovo dell’Abate, a small hamlet in the South-East of Montalcino municipality – a name that, for wine lovers, cannot be separated from its best product of this land, Brunello.

Roughly 90% of Bianchini’s fields are planted with the large-berried Sangiovese vines, which produce the grape variety for the Brunello di Montalcino, one of the most beloved – and expensive – Italian wines.

“Every wine region in the world has its ‘prince’ grape and, obviously, Sangiovese is the master here,” said Bianchini, who also grows Merlot, Cabernet, and Syrah varieties, as well as devoting 40 hectares of his family’s land to olive groves.

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Tradition in innovation

“Our climate allows us the conditions to do this type of farming,” the winemaker said.

According to Bianchini, what makes the real difference in organic production when it comes to yield is the yearly weather patterns – for instance, consecutive dry seasons lead to lower yield, while on the contrary, regular rains allow for a bigger output.

Montalcino, which is host to some 250 wineries, of which roughly 60% are certified organic, is well-known for a certain richness in the differentiation of soils, as well as some very peculiar microclimates that make the Sangiovese grape variety, in particular, ripen well.

“Being in Montalcino, tradition is a cornerstone to be held firmly,” said the winemaker, whose estate’s origins date back to the 17th century with previous owners being direct descendants of Pope Pius II.

Bianchini also pointed out the ‘luck’ of having acquired knowledge of making wine from the previous generations of his family, therefore maintaining their tradition and know-how.

“However, innovations in the sector – a bit like the world – move forward rapidly, especially from a technological point of view, not only from a technical one,” he said.

He mentioned the new tools at farmers’ disposal to put into practice sustainable farming methods such as changes in weed control, whether manual or mechanical, or agricultural equipment allowing farmers to work the soil in the best possible way, as well as seed mixes that bring mineral and organic substances to the soil.

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Time, the most important factor

Bianchini’s family started implementing an integrated pest management (IPM) approach on their farms in 2015 and were certified organic, both for wine and oil production.

IPM is an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on the long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques applied in an order of hierarchy in a way that minimises the use of chemical plant protection products to the greatest extent possible.

“It is a very different approach to farming compared to the conventional methods which are not always an absolute guarantee,” he explained.

For instance, the winemaker makes use of biostimulants, which are substances or micro-organisms applied directly to plants to enhance nutrition efficiency in order to help with biotic and abiotic stress – which can also be seen as a protection against potential diseases and pests.

“Timing is an even more important factor than the product used to defend the plant,” he said, explaining that knowing when to intervene with treatment is key.

“You can’t always win the race against time, however, it always allows us to have results that, if done in the right way, are more than satisfactory,” he said.

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Know your soil

Climate change is the biggest problem for Bianchini, who said it prevents farmers from making long-term plans.

“Costs are sometimes higher [than with conventional farming] and we have to intervene more frequently to defend the plant,” he said of sustainable practices, though added that this is a cost companies can budget for at the beginning of the year.

More unpredictable from a business perspective is the impacts of climate change, the winemaker said, saying that it necessitates additional monitoring through soil analyses.

“This certainly requires an extra effort, but it allows us to optimise a job that brings us, farmers, there in the fields from winter until the grape harvest,” he said.

“Having knowledge of these aspects makes it easier to have an integrated, sustainable, organic farming approach,” he concluded.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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