Context

In the world of viticulture, more conventional practices have led to loss of fertility, structure and microbiota in vineyards, as well as progressive soil degradation and loss. The aim of regenerative viticulture is to respect the natural balance and biodiversity of both the crops and the environment. Soils are regenerated, both in terms of fertility and structure, the water retention capacity of these soils is increased and vegetation covers are used as a means of increasing atmospheric carbon sequestration and reducing erosion.
In the VITIREGENERE project, different practices of regenerative agriculture will be applied in commercial organic vines in four locations corresponding to 4 different wineries. The aim is to improve the quality of agricultural soils by eliminating mechanical working of the soil, minimising the application of phytosanitary products that have harmful effects on soil microbiota, promoting the growth of vegetation cover to increase carbon sequestration and atmospheric nitrogen uptake in the soil and greater soil microbial diversity that can also promote better nutrient bioavailability for crops.  An extensive physical-chemical characterisation of the soil will be carried out, as well as a study of the evolution of the total and functional microbial diversity of the soil, using metataxonomy and metagenomics tools in the different regenerative practices, compared with conventional practices, over the course of the project in vineyards on different commercial farms.