Abstract
Those most important and relevant questions and challenges of the viticulture and oenology sector is in response to the project of research and development to improve sustainability and climate resilience of viticulture and oenology at the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University. A comprehensive approach is followed during the whole project realization starting with investigating those questions that are in connection with the establishment of a new vine plantation, then analysing the optimal sustainable and climate resilience plant protection technologies and finally, monitoring and studying the oenology part of the quality-oriented, competitive wine production. As result, a complex practical technological solution will be defined in the field of practising of different vine clone use, the best plant protection activities against grapevine pathogen agents and the optimal winemaking technologies. Moreover, our results contribute to the research, development, and innovation knowledge transfer.
One pillar of the project is to evaluate the varietal structure of the national sector which is based on the mass-selected grapevine clones, as well as to answer to the challenges of global climate change. It is planned to clear out the production values of the national grape varieties, which helps the policymakers to create long-term strategies based on local and adaptive grapevine types and clones.
In the case of cultural plants, the safety of production yield is highly risked by plant diseases and epidemics year by year. Recent work aims to increase the effectiveness of plant protection and gain cost-beneficial technologies in grapevine production. It is planned to research the most substantial fungal disease of viticulture, which causes high economic loss for farmers. The development of alternative protecting chemicals is one of our goals besides establishing climate-resilient farm technologies or studying biology and fungicide-resistance of the pathogens.
It is known that the plant microbiome which includes beneficial, harmful or neutral microorganisms has a significant effect on plant health, however, we have too little knowledge from this topic. This key element of agricultural factors has a long-term effect on the condition of crops and plantations, influence the quality of food products and interacting with plant health too.
Artificial and semi-natural landscape elements in the surroundings of vineyards have a high influence on plant health and essential or toxic nutrient. Barely known interactions between plant microbiome and ecology of neighbouring natural or urban areas are based on fungal communities and insect vectors as a microbial reservoir. The goal of our studies is to define and accurate those connections which have high plant-health risks and to get an overview of the natural influences in reference to a vineyard.
To prepare for the changes and challenges of climate change we are focusing on the monitoring of present climate models and foreseeing the future trends. One goal of this topic is to declare the potential vine-growing areas and sustainable grape varieties in the near future in case of global warming, to gain climate resilience and long-term cost-beneficial grapevine production within farmers reach.
It is a progressive challenge in the sector to improve wine quality increase production safety because it is essential for Hungarian wine producers to keep up with global trends in quality, style, and consumers requests to choose a good strategy for future development. The presented RDI strengthen the excellence and international competitiveness of our university in the field of grape and wine research. The planned outcomes will support the added values and innovation demands for EU level stakeholders and create new technologies and products assisting the resilience and sustainability of the sector.
Hungary