The project aims at addressing the urgent transition of zero herbicide in viticulture. This transition leads to increase the number of mechanical weeding over the row and inter-row (grassing management, tillage) which results in a higher consumption of fossil fuel and more working time. In order to prevent these issues, one of the solutions is to combine weeding over the row and inter-row in a single pass. The implementation of such practices requires a high precision. They are difficult to implement with the tools currently available on the farms. When these practices are possible, the tractor driver's concentration and dexterity are so much in demand that it is difficult to carry out this work over long periods. In this context, tractor autosteering as a retrofit (second market solution adapted to current machinery) is a particularly interesting short-term solution. Tractor autosteering systems exist in arable crops but the cost of the solutions is not compatible with the investment capacities of most vinegrowers. Recently, several low-cost open source solutions for auto steering tractors have emerged, but they have not yet been tested or combined (TRL 4). Therefore, the project aims at evaluating these solutions and lifting the interoperability locks to combine best possible open source and low cost solution to prototype a relevant auto steering system for viticulture sector (TRL 7). The project is organised in three main Work Packages (WP). The first WP is aimed at acquiring field references with commercial autosteering system to demonstrate the advantage in working time, ease of implementation and efficiency for mechanical weeding as a substitution to chemical weeding to growers. The second WP is fully dedicated to the design and tests of a low-cost open-source autosteering solution. The last WP consists of creating and leading experimental workshops of self-construct open source autosteering solution with groups of growers and advisors. The prototype of the solution will be distributed under an open license in order to guarantee the widest possible distribution and access. The deployment will be promoted through demonstrations and self-co-construction workshops. The gains for users are estimated at 5-10,000€ per year for an average operation (estimated gain when compared with conventional mechanical weeding, taking into account fuel and labour costs and yield losses). The solution developed will enable winegrowers to reduce their use of herbicides while remaining competitive. In France in 2016, more than 80% of the viticulture area was partially or totally managed with chemical herbicides. The development of a low cost auto steering prototype able to retrofit on vineyard tractor based on open-source solutions is, in our opinion, a major step forward in enabling viticulture sector towards zero-herbicide transition. The prototype in the form of an assembled open-source brick solutions whose functionality, robustness and operability will have been tested and proven in the field, will provide winegrowers with an accessible and acceptable solution to achieve optimal mechanical weeding. The auto steering solution developed will also allow winegrowers to use it for other cultural operations. The positioning of the project aims to provide short term solutions to professionals in order to anticipate and facilitate the zero herbicide transition of an entire agricultural production sector. With a strong scientific expertise in precision agriculture the DeMo team of UMR ITAP (Institut Agro - INRAE) wishes to investigate this issue in collaboration with the French vine and wine institute (IFV) by proposing the design and testing of a proof-of-concept prototype likely to meet the specific challenge of zero herbicide transition, especially for small farms. While the DeMo team will be more involved in the development of the prototype, IFV will be in charge of field experiments and in dissemination towards growers and advisors.

According to the FAO, plant diseases cost the global economy around 210€ billion per year, and fungal pathogens destroy at least a third of all food crops annually. Commercial agriculture relies on chemical fungicides for crop protection owing to their easy application and low cost; however, their overuse and misuse have devastating implications for all living systems and the entire ecosystem. Thus, establishing sustainable crop protection strategies is essential for global economic development, environmental protection, and food security. Inspired by superhydrophobic plants, such as lotus and broccoli which exhibit wax crystals on their cuticles, we propose a generic sustainable strategy for passive crop protection against fungal pathogens. Our biomimetic technology, termed SafeWax, relies on bio-derived non-toxic fatty acid-based sprayable formulations which self-assemble into a multifaceted protective coating with anti-adhesive, self-cleaning and antifungal properties. When applied on sensitive crops, which do not naturally exhibit wax crystals, SafeWax will synthetically render their foliage to passively resist pathogens. SafeWax concepts will initially be demonstrated on grapevine, as a relevant model crop of high importance to Europe’s economy, environment and culture, which is highly susceptible to fungal diseases and is the most-frequently treated crop. SafeWax will then be expanded to other sensitive commodity crops. The biodegradable SafeWax coating will not only protect crops from fungal infections but will also be tuned to provide UV radiation filtering, prevent sun damage, as well as facilitate water collection from dew condensation, mitigating inevitable effects of climate change. SafeWax will revolutionize the global fungicides market (valued > 20 billion €), starting from the biofungicide market with a value of 3,2 billion € by 2025.

Wine production is one of the most historic and emblematic sector of European economy involving thousands of workers in the whole sector. Europe is the largest vine producing region in the world and wine exportation is a key economic sector. However, the quality and amount of wine production are threatened every year by grapevine virus diseases. Indeed, more than 60 different viruses can affect the vineyard.PAThOGEN aims to improve basic and transversal skills of wine professionals (winegrowers, nurserymen, consultants and advisors, students) by providing a relevant training ProgrAmme TO improve GrapEviNe virus knowledge and field management.PAThOGEN proposes an innovative training scheme combining e-learning with field trainings providing on-hand experience dispensed by high level trainers.PAThOGEN proposes three levels of training in order to be more efficient and adapted to the targeted audience. A first level, mainly dedicated to winegrowers, vineyard technicians and nurserymen enables them to detect, recognize, manage and prevent virus diseases. A more advanced level, addressed to consultants and advisors, who are key stakeholders as they are in contact with a lot of practitioners, provides deeper insight in the virus management with additionnal modules . In order to have a wider impact and multiply the available field sessions, a trainer level provides advisors with skills to give training sessions to practitioners on grapevine virus diseases. A special attention has been given to the scientific quality of the training by involving high level experts on grapevine viruses, but also to the organization of the modules giving a smooth progression, through interactive media and a common methodology for field sessions. An advisory board composed of winegrowers and advisors from France, Italy and Spain were consulted during the project to make sure that the content and progression is relevant for their profile. Besides, external and independent evaluators checked the content of the training to make sure the scientific content is accurate.PAThOGEN project was coordinated by the French Wine and Vine Institute and involved four other partners from Italy and Spain. High level trainers and vine virus experts from the French Wine and Vine Institute, the Italian Experimentation and Research Centre for viticulture and enology (CREA) and the viticulture and plant pathology group from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) were involved in the writing the content of the modules and in providing a progression adapted to each level. The eLearning platform and website were managed by HORTA, an Italian SME specialized in ICT tools for agriculture. The communication, dissemination and exploitation aspects were managed by FEUGA, a foundation representing the research groups of the University System of Galicia in Spain. The project was organized in several operational stages. First partners established and agreed on a common methodology to build the training and also evaluation methods and procedures. An important part of the project was to write and build the content of the eLearning modules and quality check them. Then, the modules were put into eLearning format on a dedicated platform. The combined training (eLearning and field training sessions) was then tested and evaluated by 200 volunteers trainees from different selected profiles (winegrowers, nursery professionals, advisors and technicians). Improvements were made in order to adapt the training to the professional’s needs. All through the project duration, communication and dissemination activities were made, focusing on our main targets (winegrowers, technicians and advisors in the wine sector). As a result, the project has enable to produce a high quality combined training, dedicated to wine professionals, for improving the knowledge and management of grapevine viruses. The elearning course is available in four languages (French, English, Spanish, Italian) and field sessions are available in France, Spain and Italy. We believe this innovative training will be highly beneficial for the wine sector. Professionals involved in the evaluation and testing of the training have been very positive and enthusiastic about it. Partners have agreed on a common exploitation plan in order to spread the knowledge on grapevine viruses in each partner country (France, Spain and Italy) and replicate the PAThOGEN training in other regions and at national level. Several promising contacts, including in Greece, are interested in adapting the training to their country. Also, the training has been promoted at international level, including Canada, Chile and South Africa where vineyards are also concerned by grapevine virus management. The objective is to train at least 100 new professionals per year from Spain, Italy or France and additional trainees from other countries in Europe or abroad.The report is written in English as it is the common language for partners.

The fermented beverage industry is looking for innovation to meet the current challenges of sustainability, adaptation to climate change and evolution of consumer practices towards quality products. The development of novel fermentation processes requires an in-depth understanding of the physiology of the different microbial actors, to better control their growth and/or exploit their phenotypic potentialities. Among the yeasts frequently encountered in fermentation environments, yeasts of the genus Brettanomyces are differentiated by their ability to produce volatile phenols. The sensory impact of these compounds is generally considered negative in fermented beverages, with the exception of specialty beers. Currently, it remains difficult to control the formation of volatile phenols in wines, beers and ciders, due to important gaps in the knowledge of the physiology of Brettanomyces yeasts. In this context, our research project aims to elucidate the metabolic and molecular origin of the production of volatile phenols by B. bruxellensis and B. anomalus in fermented beverages and to study their regulation by environmental and technological factors. For this purpose, we propose to evaluate the diversity of metabolism in B. bruxellensis and to identify the physiological role of volatile phenol production in this species. The knowledge of the molecular basis and the factors governing the metabolism of B. bruxellensis and B. anomalus will then allow us to propose strategies to control the formation of volatile phenols during the production of wine, beer and cider, which will be further validated at a pilot scale.