Assessing the potential of sheep grazing to manage grapevine diseases

Context and challenges

Agroecological principles require that farmers develop context-specific solutions and adapt their practices, notably by integrating greater biodiversity into agroecosystems.

In vineyards, the agroecological transition is particularly challenging, as viticulture remains one of the highest pesticide-consuming agricultural sectors per hectare worldwide. This is especially the case in France, where vineyards account for only 3.7% of the total cultivated area but are responsible for 20% of pesticide use. Multiple, often complementary, options exist to support the agroecological transition, some of which are already well known. However, other practices require further investigation, such as vine-sheep integration, which is increasingly being implemented in France and the United States. As such, vineyards are particularly relevant to the issue of animal introduction or reintegration into vineyards, such as sheep grazing. Yet, current knowledge about the effects of grazing remains too limited to support the redesign of low-input, agroecological vineyards.

Goals

Due to an important reliance on synthetic inputs and increasing specialization, agriculture faces major challenges in innovating and shifting production systems towards greater sustainability, to limit biodiversity loss, climate change, and human health issues. In this context, agroecology has gained prominence in scientific, economic, and social debates.

While the introduction of livestock has been mentioned in the scientific literature as a way to reduce herbicide use and enhance soil fertility in viticultural systems, its effect on plant health, particularly in terms of downy mildew management, has yet to be studied. The research will consist, on one hand, of an experiment on the key processes related to sheep grazing, and on the other, of a survey-based analysis of the conditions under which sheep grazing could be implemented. The resulting insights will contribute to the co-construction of management strategies that optimize the beneficial effects of this practice.