Bodegas Yuntero is developing an R+D+I project to alleviate vine wood diseases, called EMV, the biggest health problem of this crop. The work being carried out consists of the application of natural compounds to stimulate the plants' own natural defense system, and which can also increase the quality of the wine obtained.
The first results and advances of the program, which lasted three years and which is currently in its second year of execution, were presented on August 6 in Manzanares (Ciudad Real), during the celebration of the first edition of the "Induction of the Defenses to mitigate the diseases of the vineyard wood", an event attended by more than 150 technicians and farmers, from different parts of Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.
Program features
The trials are being carried out on two plots owned by the Jesús del Perdón-Bodegas Yuntero Cooperative, both with a total of eleven hectares, and with vineyards of the Airén and Cencibel varieties.
Juan Manuel Jiménez Castro, technical agricultural engineer from the Department of Agricultural Services at Bodegas Yuntero, explains that the objective of these tests is "to be able to stimulate the activity of chitinase by the plant itself, through the use of the molecule mannan oligosaccharides - coming from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cell wall – to produce an immune response that activates the natural defense system of plants”.
These compounds are completely natural and come to replace chemicals. "Applied to plants -adds Jiménez Castro- they also have a positive effect on the production of phenolic compounds, being able to increase the quality of the wine".
Phases and first results
In the first year of the program, different tests were carried out until the most effective dose of the compounds to be applied was found. In this second year, the frequency of product application is being determined. Finally, in the third year, once the ideal dose and frequency have been determined, work will be carried out on six plots in full production. Three of them will be treated with compounds and the remaining three will not, in order to observe the differences and analyze the results.
"So far - Jiménez Castro points out - it has been possible to reduce the disease of the wood of the vines (EMV), with the consequent improvement of the sanitary state of the crop and an increase in the quality of the wine has been observed (antioxidants and polyphenols). , in addition to greater homogeneity and increased production”.
The work is being carried out in collaboration with various companies and institutions dedicated to research and development in the agri-food sector, such as Alltech Crop Science and the University of Extremadura. This project has the support and financing of CDTI and FEDER Funds.
