ISHS Acta Horticulturae

In grape growing, farmers generally base their cultivar choice merely on tradition or market trend. Proper cultivar identification may result in lower incidence of plant biotic and abiotic stresses, greater productions and peculiar quality parameters. To date, the wealth of information on grape cultivar performance worldwide has not yet found a shared framework and is therefore fragmented and not easily accessible. Furthermore, much of the information that can be accessed is difficult to evaluate since the methodologies applied for data recording widely vary. HORTIVAR is a horticultural crop cultivar performance database developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), suitable for recording information that assess the performance of crop cultivars in different agro-climatic environments. Being geo-referenced and linked to climatic historical series, it has potentialities to represent the lacking centralised information base for the recording and retrieval of data on the performance of grape cultivars throughout the world. HORTIVAR may enable grape growers to critically select optimal genotypes for their geo-climatic regions, and to have access to required practices in a range of growing systems. Besides, since users may contribute to the database with their own results, it may represent a lively information exchange platform, where grape growers may get connected and mapped as well as share knowledge and recommendations. HORTIVAR currently counts roughly 1900 entries from Vitis vinifera. Thanks to its partnerships with the universities and non-profit bodies involved, it is likely to become a unique tool for guiding the grape sector in strategic choices

XXIX International Horticultural Congress on Horticulture: Sustaining Lives, Livelihoods and Landscapes (IHC2014): V International Conference on Landscape and Urban Horticulture and International Symposium on Sustainable Management in the Urban Forest

HORTIVAR is a database developed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations for data collection and retrieval about cultivar-specific performances in different climatic and geographical regions across the world. Being geo-referenced and linked to climatic historical series, it may provide useful indications on promising cultivars for a specific location. In urban gardens, farmers are generally characterized by scarce agricultural background, and, due the absence of technical advisory services, cultivar selection turns out to be merely based on what can be easily found in supermarkets. Proper cultivar identification may result in lower incidence of plant biotic and abiotic stresses, higher yield, better and peculiar quality parameters (e.g., when traditional or exotic varieties are chosen). HORTIVAR may enable urban farmers to critically select optimal genotypes for their geo-climatic regions, and to have access to crop features and required practices in a range of growing systems. Furthermore, since users may contribute to the database with their own experiences and results, it may represent a lively information exchange platform, where urban farmers may get connected and mapped as well as share seeds and recommendations. Although HORTIVAR is mainly a "rural" indicator of cultivar performances (it contains more than 70,000 datasets from rural agricultural production sites), it also currently counts more than 1000 entries from urban microgardens. Thanks to its partnerships with universities and no-profit bodies involved in urban agriculture, HORTIVAR is likely to become a unique tool for guiding the urban farmer in the daily choices