Viticulture and soil health: towards alternatives to copper? copper?
The wine industry represents a major socio-economic agricultural sector on an international scale. But it is not, the cultivation of vines (Vitis vinifera) is still largely based on the use of pesticides, These include the copper sulphate contained in the famous Bordeaux mixture, used as a fungicide. While this product effectively protects vines against certain diseases, it can also affect soil organisms that are essential to the proper functioning of agro-ecosystems.
A recent study by Flor Regus, Céline Pelosi, Rayhane Hamrouni, Isabelle Laffont Schwob, Nawal Rochdi, Pascale Prudent, Lisa Foli, Yoan Labrousse et Anne-Marie Farnet Da Silva, published in Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, explores an alternative
promising: biocontrol based on Trichoderma asperellum, a micro-organism capable of producing antifungal compounds.
The authors compared the effects on a wine-growing soil of copper sulphate, a biocontrol cocktail, and their combination, by monitoring soil microbial activity and certain earthworm markers for 30 days. Aporrectodea caliginosa (biomass, reproduction).
The results show that biocontrol has no deleterious effect and can even stimulate microbial activity and earthworm growth. Conversely, copper sulphate reduces microbial biomass and affects earthworm reproduction.
Biocontrol solutions could therefore represent a promising way of reconciling crop protection and soil health.
