Improving vineyard resilience: agricultural frost damage mitigation techniques

The Mediterranean region is experiencing some of climate change’s most intense effects of climate change on European agriculture, including more frequent extreme heat, droughts, loss of biodiversity and increasing water needs. This is particularly concerning for perennial fruit crops such as grapevines, which cover substantial areas and are increasingly affected by these changes. Farmers are adjusting their practices to cope, but many of these solutions remain confined to specific regions or agricultural sectors. The EU-funded CLIMED-FRUIT project is working to bridge this gap by collecting and sharing innovative, climate-adaptive practices from various European agricultural operational groups (OGs) to enhance resilience and promote effective climate change adaptation and mitigation. Global warming has led to pronounced shifts in vine phenology, especially in the Mediterranean, resulting in earlier flowering and fruiting events. Studies indicate that approximately 78% of flowering and fruiting cycles now occur earlier, with 30% of these shifts showing significant advances. Similarly, late autumn frosts have an adverse effect on plants that have not yet entered a dormant phase, collectively resulting in significant yield losses. This article outlines best practices for mitigating frost risk and adapting vineyard management to withstand these climatic challenges. This article presents a non-exhaustive list of experimental results from projects carried out across Europe and identified in the framework of the CLIMED-FRUIT project.