Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticulture Josep Lluís Pérez Verdú
Economic and social sustainability
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- 4.3.2 Economic and social sustainability
- Type of operation Vineyard Real production
- Total investment 202,000 1,337,000 Operating costs
- Total costs 2,150 108,500
- 5. Conclusions
- Moscatel variety in the Penedès region (flat-land vineyard) Acknowledgements
4.3.2 Economic and social sustainability The financial feasibility of the techniques for environmental sustainability has been assessed in two cases: •
the grapes to a wine producer. He has one small tractor. The winery supplies him with the basic information on disease prevention and irrigation guidelines. • 15 ha vineyard belonging to a wine producing company. It appoints staff for cultivation work. It has its own machinery and central office to prepare information and make decision. Landscape preservation Preservation of soil and its fertility Prevention of pollution Greater resource
productivity Blending in of terraces. Use of mosaic terroir without vine monopolisation Prevention of erosion, compacting and loss of organic matter Minimisation of run-off and polluting leaching (nutrients, toxics) More and better (grape) production with less materials (soil, water, fertilisers, pesticides) Benefits/techniques Optimised terrace
design X X Vigour control and precise ferti-irrigation X X X Plant cover on terraces and slopes X X
forecasting model
X X Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 74 Chart 4.3 Synthesis of environmental benefits The vineyard is planted on land with a natural gradient of 40% using terraces measuring 1.3 m wide and ring vine training with terrace planting. In both cases, Mas Martinet comprehensive management techniques are applied. The real target production per ha is set at 9,500 kg/a (see Chart 4.2). The hypo- thesis is established that grape production evolves as follows: • Year 1: 0% of real target production. • Year 2: 30%. • Year 3: 80%. • Year 4: 100%. The production targets are summarised in Chart 4.4. Chart 4.6 shows the annual investment and operating costs in the two cases given. The following hypothesis is used to calculate the financial results: • Constant inflation of 2.5% per year. • The farmer invests using all his own capital. • The company finances 40% of the investment at a nominal interest rate of 5%, with quarterly settle- ments (5.1% APR) and 0.25% opening commission. • The sale price or value of the grape is 1.4 Euros/kg. The financial results are summarised in Chart 4.5. Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 75
Ha No. of plots Kg/yr. Self-employed farmer 2 1
Wine producing company 15 8 142,500 Farmer
Company Project IRR at 20 years % 9.6
0.24 Financial IRR (leveraged) % 0.35
Investment return period years
11 20 Pre-tax profits, once euros 20,000
50,000 target production is reached (euros 2007) 4.4 Production hypothesis for financial assessment (vigour control) Chart 4.5 Financial feasibility of the vineyard using Mas Martinet techniques
The annual profits for the farmer can be considered sufficient. The company has a low IRR, given that its main business is the sale of wine. As well as the added environmental and economic value, both direct and indirect, the Mas Martinet techniques help towards social sustainability with two specific contributions being particularly note- worthy: • The quantity and quality of the grape harvest is independent to the weather conditions to a great extent. This fact, together with the high productivity of resources, provides strong financial feasi- bility under good conditions to withstand the ups and downs of the market. This leads to increa- sed job stability. • The use of information technologies, analytical and environmental accounting systems and crop management based on relational and data interpretation models requires significant intellectual work that may be adapted and is continuously improving. As a result, more skilled jobs are crea- ted with greater possibilities of continuous training in a wide range of subjects and, therefore, more attractive to youngsters and, most particularly, more accessible to women. Moreover, the terrace access and phytosanitary control techniques lead to improved occupational safety for workers. Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 76
Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 77
Chart 4.6 Investments and operating costs for the financial assessment of Mas Martinet techniques Investment Amortisation (a) Depreciation (a) 2 ha
15 ha Terracing (including tree and shrub clearing, removal of rots and stone 30,000 euros/ha 20 60,000
450,000 crushing) Stock 1euro/stock 20 13,000
97,500 Vine training 5 euros/stock 20 65,000 487,500 Machinery Tractor, trailer, pesticides 10 9,000 30,000 Boxes and other tools 10 4,000
8,000 Irrigation pond 20 24,000
54,000 Irrigation installation (including hut, fertiliser storage tanks, pumps, 12,000 euros/ha 15 24,000
180,000 programmer, etc.) Weather station + 15 0 6,000 blight forecasting contract Soil moisture sensors + dendrometer + data recording 2 measuring points x plot 10 3,000 24,000 and transmission (datalogger) Total investment 202,000 1,337,000 Operating costs Staff
0 90,000
Phytosanitary products 1,200
9,000 Machinery maintenance 450 1,500
Disease forecast and equipment maintenance 0 3,000 Various (insurance, consumables, etc.) 500
5,000 Total costs 2,150 108,500 Natural slope: 40%. Terraces: slope gradient: 52º, terrace width: 1.3 m, 5,200 lm of terrace/ha Vine training: rings with a diameter of 0.6 m every 0.8 m, production branch for one ring = 1.88 m, ELA = 3.6 m 2 /ring, no. of shoots = 26 shoots/stock Number of rings/stock per ha = 6,500 (5,200/0.8); theoretic ELA = 24,500 m 2 /ha; 9,500 kg/ha 2 ha vineyard: 1 plot. Farmed by one self-employed farmer who sells the grape to a wine producer 15 ha vineyard: 8 plots. Farmed by a wine producing company. 5. Conclusions Some of the new terraced vineyards are not environmentally sustainable, given that they do not blend in well with the countryside and are exposed to erosion and landslides. Moreover, obtaining a quality grape in new conventional vineyards is generally based on maintaining low soil productivity and the types of vine training and plantation framework used lead to a very high ratio between stock supply and demand. All this makes them vulnerable to market crises and to extraordinary episodes of wea- ther. More specifically, the economic fragility of new plantations is a barrier for small-scale farmers to take on higher investments that require the building of environmentally optimised terraces. Traditional crop techniques are maintained in new vineyards and could be called the myth of techno- logy:
• In the current market, it is easier to justify the price of grapes through low productivity rather than through the application of technology. This favours wines with a quality that is sustained on the “terroir”, i.e. under the unrepeatable weather and soil conditions of a certain place. People cannot dominate the quality of wine, which depends exclusively on natural factors. Technology and qua- lity are relatively incompatible. This commercial strategy is increasingly weak and will end up jeopardising the regions that defend it, which will be unable to compete with the new world and with the European regions that, as well as a good “terroir”, combine crop control with the appropriate knowledge and technology. • It is sometimes preferred to continue with traditional plantations because no specific knowledge is required other than the traditional experience of our ancestors. For example, in the case of irriga- tion, the time to irrigation and its duration must be known, as well as making investments. If no irri- gation is implemented, no knowledge is necessary because the weather decides. Along these lines, technology-intensive (energy) viticulture based on standardised and repetitive pro- cesses that are easy to mechanise must not be confused with knowledge-intensive viticulture where technology is only a means of helping increase the productivity of semi-automated processes with a different treatment for each plot on the vineyard and even for each stock. Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 79
Viticulture practice cannot remain stuck in the past when biochemical, soil, weather and hydraulic kno- wledge and communication and data processing technologies have progressed so much. Many moun- tain wine producing areas must ask themselves why this is the case. Innovation and, more particularly, eco-innovation must play a more significant role in viticulture. The Manual presents the terracing and vigour control techniques developed by Mas Martinet over the past 15 years with the final support of the Life project. The techniques described open up the way for mountain viticulture that is sustainable, i.e. environment-friendly, financially feasible and socio-cultu- rally beneficial and accepted. More specifically, they preserve the land and the landscape while incre- asing vineyard productivity and grape quality and creating skilled jobs suitable for employing women. The sustainable innovation of Mas Martinet may also be useful for promoting the wine culture and wine tourism. Control of grape ripening leaves the “terroir” and the variety in the background to ensure human invol- vement plays a leading role through intelligent incidence that makes the work of nature and sensitivity easier for composing wines. The techniques described in the Manual provide the best results when applied together, i.e. as a whole. They are valid for any type of vineyard, although their main area of application is small or medium-scale operations with vigorous grape varieties (e.g. Grenache and Cariñena, the autochthonous varieties of the Priorat region). On flat land requiring no terracing, the vigour control techniques are recommended to optimise production in terms of both quantity and quality. In short, the experience of Mas Martinet is a prime contribution to the sustainability of a strategic acti- vity for Mediterranean Europe and, more particularly, for Catalonia: top quality wine production using mountain viticulture. However, the final destination is nowhere in sight. Research must continue to increasingly adapt the techniques developed and complete their scientific documentation. The experiments carried out over the past 15 years confirm that the road taken is the right one and must be continued. Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 80
Corollaries • Productivity is essential for financial development and knowledge is the key factor for improved productivity. However, a knowledge-based economy requires great demands on producers, on the public authorities and, in short, on people who have spent time and efforts on increasing their pre- paration. Continuous training becomes vital. • Technological innovation is a way of increasing productivity, although it must be environment- friendly, financially feasible and socio-culturally acceptable. • The dichotomy between the environment and development is generally false, provided that the public and private players involved are willing to overcome it and commit the necessary resources for (eco-)innovation. If this is the case, the environment acts as a salutary lesson for innovation, efficiency and productivity and what was perceived as a barrier becomes an opportunity. • Innovation means, to a certain extent, questioning the traditional way things are done. To make innovation easier, the rules governing any area, including viticulture, should establish final goals but leave enough freedom or be sufficiently flexible in relation to the means to meet these goals. • The balance between identity and globalisation, between culture and economy, is a strength for innovation and sustainability that must be used to its full potential. Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 81
Unmodified head-pruned stock Modified stock with circular vine training Moscatel variety in the Penedès region (flat-land vineyard) Acknowledgements - Roser Cots i Folch. Environmental and Solar Science Department. University of Lleida - José A. Martínez Casanovas. Environmental and Solar Science Department. University of Lleida - Òscar Borràs. Priorat Qualified Designation of Origin Control Board - Gabriel Escarré. Regional Service in Tarragona. Environmental and Housing Department - Roger Pascual i Garsaball. Agro-3 - Francesc Primé Vidiella. Agro-3 - Pere Sala i Martí. Landscape Observatory - Joaquim Aguado. Coll de la Teixeta - Lluís Giralt Vidal. Viticulture and Oenology Station. Catalan Vine and Wine Institute Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticultur e - 83
Av. Maria Cristina s/n - Palau de la Metal·lúrgia 08004 Barcelona Tel: (34) 93 233 23 09 life@forumambiental.org www.forumambiental.org/life.html DOMAINE DE CABASSE Yüklə 1,43 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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