Modelling strategies for estimating vine development and growth under different environmental conditions

Viticulture is an important part of the agricultural sector with a high economic and environmental relevance especially in the most traditional wine regions. In these areas, the specific Terroir characterized by the complex of climate, soil and human factors contribute to define the peculiar features of grapes and the wines’ high quality. Any changes in environmental conditions and agricultural practices may affect the vintage quality with strong consequences on wine industry and the socioeconomic aspects of the winemaking sector. In this context, crop simulation models, which are able to represent vine development and growth, can be useful tools for predicting present and future performances under different environmental conditions. On this basis, the main characteristics of two crop models will be described/introduced: UNIFI.GrapeML a model library that collect specific modelling strategies for grapevine and CropSyst a multi-years, multi-crop model. Although these models are based on different modelling strategies, they include the main physiological processes of the plant and are able to reproduce the pivotal climate-plant-soil interactions. Accordingly, UNIFI.GrapeML and CropSyst simulation model will be applied for estimating the production cycle of different grapevine varieties under changing environmental conditions.