Greece
Nemea
Grapes
Ilias Travlos (travlos@aua.gr)

Nikos Antonopoulos (nikolasantwno@gmail.com)
Most used practices:
Mechanical Control - Herbicides - Mowing

Grape Living Lab

In the second Greek Living Lab we are working on vineyards. Intensive agricultural practices are typical of vineyard management, so it is important to find more sustainable production methods. The team of the Agricultural University of Athens is working intensively to test and evaluate alternative weed control methods for both conventional and organic farming systems. The field trial in the LL began in September 2023 with the collection of a soil sample to identify and isolate beneficial microorganisms. After multiplication, these microorganisms will be used to treat the cover crop seeds for the next season to investigate the effects on growth stimulation. Three different cover crops were shown in the inter-row space, including the two species as a monoculture (Avena sativa, Vicia sativa) and their mixture, where the differences in weed suppression are measured. Cover crops have been shown to provide various environmental services, such as efficient weed control and promotion of biodiversity, thereby improving the sustainability of the overall farming system. Our aim is to improve the sustainability of vineyards and reduce the use of herbicides by evaluating different agroecological weed management methods in both inter- and intra-row spaces.