Integrative approach for sustainable viticulture in Portugalˈs Douro Valley: The NOVATERRA approach in mountain viticulture

Sogrape Vinhos S.A., Rua 5 de Outubro, 4527, 4430-809 Avintes, Portugal

Abstract

United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal number 12 pledges to ensure the sustainability of production and consumption of the food system. Towards more sustainable agriculture, a reduction of contentious pesticides, increasing spray application efficiency, and supporting strategies for integrated control is required. This can be obtained by developing innovative eco-friendly strategies that protect both the environment and human health. In this sense, SOGRAPE, a family-owned wine company, is a partner of project NOVATERRA (funded by EU’s Horizon 2020), aiming at improving the sustainability of viticulture by integrating new plant protection products (PPPs) of natural origin, biodiversity conservation, precision agriculture, robotics, and integrated soil and crop management strategies. NOVATERRA project trials have been made at SOGRAPE’s Quinta do Seixo, located in Cima Corgo, central sub-region of the Douro valley. This project is based in a practical and integrative approach, promoting multivariate case studies, in real scale trials executed by SOGRAPE to maximize adoption of successful solutions obtained from case studies. In this way, SOGRAPE engages in promoting the sustainability of the viticulture sector, working on several assignments of the project. The novel approaches assessed in NOVATERRA project work for the same goal of paving the way towards increasingly sustainable agriculture, combined into an integrated vine protection strategy.