Grapevine Biotechnology
VITIFUTUR
(Interreg V)
In the transnational Upper Rhine region (Alsace, Baden, Southern Palatinate), the wine industry is of particular economic importance. Favorable climatic conditions enable outstanding wine qualities. The growing appreciation of and demand for regional wine among consumers will also guarantee high added value in the future. In order to secure this development potential, the wine industry must make the consumption of resources and the use of pesticides more sustainable in order to keep the natural balance in equilibrium. An additional challenge for viticulture is global climate change, which is leading to the spread of new diseases in the Upper Rhine region.
The Interreg V project VITIFUTUR was planned as a cross-border cluster of excellence in practice and science, which serves research and innovation for sustainable viticulture as well as knowledge transfer and further training. With the VITIFUTUR project, the wine industry in the Upper Rhine region will be increasingly involved in transnational research and innovation projects to promote sustainable viticulture. The scientific partners include all viticultural research institutions and universities in the cross-border Upper Rhine region.
The establishment of a Transnational Academy for Applied Viticulture Research serves to provide practical training for young scientists and managers from the wine industry and represents a link between practice and science. The wine industry is represented by the regional winegrowing associations, which are involved in VITIFUTUR in the form of an advisory board. This combination of science and practice serves as a basis for achieving the project's specific goals for the wine industry, consumers and society.
The scientific part of the project is divided into three subject areas:
Development of a scientific basis for sustainable viticulture with resistant grape varieties
Development of strategies to prevent the spread of grapevine virus diseases in the Upper Rhine region
Conducting studies on grapevine wood diseases and evaluating control measures
The Research group of Grapevine Biotechnology works in close cooperation with the DLR-Rheinpfalz in Neustadt, the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants in Siebeldingen and the State Viticulture Institute in Freiburg on the subject of "resistant grape varieties".