Mobile Application Development for Optimal and Rapid Diagnosis of Vine Diseases

In a perennial culture such as the vine, late and inaccurate identification of the damage created by diseases and pests can cause significant crop loss or even the loss of the entire production. To support the growers in Romania, in 2010, we printed and also posted online on www.scvblaj.ro a guide on how to diagnose vine diseases and pests that describes in detail the most important pathogens together with pictures and various solutions in order to help the growers to bring the plants back to a healthy state whenever possible. Given the high number of growers in our country, especially small family growers, the guide is addressed to anyone, regardless of their past experience.Between 2010 and 2014, thousands of growers have accessed the online version of the guide and contacted us to request additional help. We gathered a lot of valuable information during that time but most notably the fact that many growers were contacting us too late, when a disease had already spread beyond any hope of recovery or worse after a wrong treatment was applied because of an inaccurate diagnosis.In recent years we noticed an increasing number of wrong diagnostics of vine diseases and a tendency for pathogens to be more aggressive. Thus finding a new solution, easily accessible to growers that would offer a faster, easier and up to date diagnosis, was necessary.Recent developments in the field of machine learning (Ghahramani, 2015), breakthroughs in computer vision (Krizhevsky et al., 2012) and the availability of cheap computational hardware has led us to look for a way to automatically detect and classify a disease just by having a computer or a mobile phone process a picture of an affected plant. Given the widespread availability of mobile devices, we believe we can help the vine growers further

Studies on Biodiversity Diagnosis of Vineyard Farms at the Agro-Ecological Infrastructure Level

In Romania, the vine farms are currently spread on approximately 180.000 ha, therefore an important part of biodiversity, functional or planned is present. To avoid a biodiversity decline it is necessary for the vineyards to have a clear evidence of the state of their biodiversity.Based on the results obtained from the studied vineyards, during 2015, the agro-ecological infrastructure or AEI percent based on the actual area occupied varies between 7% and 35%. Evaluation of the implementation AEI during 2015 in wine-growing farms in Romania showed that the amount of semi-natural elements is not sufficient to stop the loss of biodiversity and their quality needs to be favored also

The Behaviour of some Recommended Grapevine Cultivars in a Sustainable Crop System to the Eriophyid Mites Attack

The behaviour of some vine cultivars when attacked by the eriophyid mites,Colomerus vitis Pagenstecher which causes grapevine erinose and Calepitrimerus vitis Nalepa, the agent that causes acariosis, is extremely divers, and inconsistent. Some cultivars are resistant under certain conditions (locations), while others are more sensitive. The purpose of this study is to establish the resistance/tolerance of some cultivars to the attack of eryophyid mites, the main pests in the vineyards of Transylvania. The experiments were placed in the experimental plantations of SCDVV Blaj located in the Tarnave vineyard plantated with cultivars: Brumăriu, Fetească regală, Pinot gris, Traminer roz, Muscat Ottonel, Sauvignon blanc, Riesling italian, Blasius, Selena. By analysing the symptoms on the before mentioned cultivars, the attack degree (AD%) varied form 1% for Selena to 47% for Blasius. Among the cultivars, in 2020 Brumăriu has the highest AD% caused by Colomerus vitis with 18.82 %, compared with Pinot gris who had the lowest attack rate 0.08%. All the cultivars were midresistant and resistant against the eriophyid mites, with one exception, Brumăriu has an Attack Degree (AD %) of 18.82%, at the attack of Colomerus vitis

Sulfur dioxide dinamic in Sauvignon Blanc and Neuburger dry white wines

The aim of this study is to evaluate the sulfur dioxide dinamic in two dry white wines Sauvignon blanc and Neuburger produced in Tarnave vineyard in order to check if there is any grape cultivar influence on this compound addition. Four wines (Sauvignon blanc 2018 and 2019 and Neuburger 2018 and 2019) were analysed for the free and total SO2 content during the four stages of vinification and storage: harvest, fermentation, maturation and storage for two years. At the maturation stage, for all these samples the following parameters were also measured: alcohol content (%), total acidity (g/L tartaric acid), volatile acidity (g/L acetic acid), dry extract (g/L), non-reducingdry extract (g/L), relative density at 20°C, total sugars (g/L), glucose and fructose (g/L). For the samples studied in this work, it was determined an increasing concentration of free and total SO2 starting with harvest continuing with fermentation, maturation, the firsty ear of storage and finishing with the second year of storage. Only for the free SO2 at the harvest stage, a cultivar influence was observed. In this study, the limits were between 6.25±1.25 mg/L and 32.55±1.25 mg/L for the dosed free SO2 and between 65.25±0.25 mg/L and 190.40±4.60 mg/L for total SO2. The analyzed wines kept their varietal characteristics and organoleptic properties, as Qualified Denomination of Origin (DOC) Târnave wines, with an admitted SO2 content

The Behavior of some Table Grapevine Cultivars in Relation to Phomopsis Viticola (Sacc.) Attack in Târnave Vineyard

Phomopsis viticola (Sacc) causes excoriosis (Phomopsis cane and leaf spot), this results in high loses in grape production and in severe cases, death of the grapevine. The symptoms are as follows: the base of affected canes swells and blackens, and the scarred cortex may tear in longitudinal streaks, these canes are extremely fragile and easily break beneath their own load, other canes can completely dry. Data was collected and calculated (Phomopsis viticola AD, attack degree on leaves and canes) for the years 2021 and 2022, from the following cultivars: Kodryanka, Arkadia, Muscat New York, Moldova, Original, Muscat Poeloeske, and Muscat bleu as Vitis interspecific crosses cultivars, Victoria, Muscat Hamburg, Timpuriu de Cluj. Splendid and Transilvania as Vitis vinifera cultivars..Data comparison was done using the StatView software, ANOVA and ANCOVA test. In the present research work, it was demonstrated that in Tîrnave vineyard different table grapes cultivars behave differently to Phomopsis viticola (Sacc) attack

Study Regarding the Status of Fungal Grapevine Trunk Diseases in some Romanian Vineyards

Romania is a wine-producing country, with a rich and long tradition in the field of viticulture. Field evaluation of the land and grapevines from a phytosanitary point of view is essential for establishing the most effective control methods for grapevine diseases and pests. Grapevine trunk diseases (GTD) are currently considered one of the biggest threats to vineyard sustainability. In this study, GTD symptoms were investigated by direct field observations in vineyards from Blaj, Bujoru, Murfatlar and Miniș in 2020 throughout the vegetation period. In 2021 samples of the grapevines, showing signs of decline in the previous year were analyzed following traditional methods based on macroscopic examinations. A total of 69 samples were analyzed and symptoms of four GTDs were identified: Esca disease; Eutypa dieback; Phomopsis dieback and Petri disease. Out of these 55 % of the samples presented Esca disease symptoms. More than 80 % of the samples presented symptoms of 2 or more diseases at the same time

The Influence of Climatic Conditions on Downy Mildew and Powdery Mildew in Târnave Vineyard

The main diseases that affect the vineyards in the Târnave vineyard are: grapevine downy mildew caused by Plasmopara viticola and grapevine powdery mildew caused by Uncinula necator. The present study aimed to address the relationship between grapevine cultivars and the main diseases, downy mildew and powdery mildew, according to climatic variability and treatments applied. The analysis was carried out over two consecutive years 2021 and 2022 on five new cultivars, the creation of SCDVV Blaj: Selena, Blasius, Rubin, Radames and Brumăriu. Disease attack was determined during the vegetation period, until harvest. Cultivar susceptibility varied, some cultivars were relatively tolerant and no cultivar was highly resistant to both diseases. In addition, a difference between foliar and grape berry susceptibility to the two diseases was observed for several cultivars. This data provide a basis for developing low-treatment disease management strategies for specific grapevine cultivars based on downy mildew and powdery mildew susceptibility/tolerance

Influence of the Climatic Conditions of the Year 2022 on the Grapevine Phenology at SCDVV Blaj

The present article attempts to describe how the effects of climate conditions affect the evolution of the grapevine phenological period in 2022. The cultivars used were Selena, Blasius, Rubin, Radames and two clones obtained approved in SCDVV Blaj: Sauvignon blanc 9Bl and Fetească albă 29 Bl. The experiment was carried out at SCDVV Blaj and included field observations, monitoring weather conditions such as temperature and precipitation. For the onset of the phenological phases: budding, flowering, veraison (colour change of grape berries) and ripening-maturation. The phenological phases of the grapevines were monitored for a growing season according to the protocol established, taking into account the BBCH grade. Temperature and precipitation are the two main climatic factors that affect the growth and development of the grapevines. Due to existing thermal conditions and continued global warming, the Târnave vineyard region is a recommended place for white grape cultivation