Tractors and horses in viticulture. Research on soil, grapes, must and labor

Mestrado Vinifera Euromaster - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL / Institut National d'Études Agronomiques, Montpellier

Horses versus machines? Who would believe nowadays a mere animal can compete with the power of human engineering. This thesis has the objective to examine the effects of modern technology in viticulture in comparison to an old fashioned way of working with draft animals such as horses. Analyses were carried out during nine months and one vintage in two different vineyards with differences in cultivation practices with horses as draft animals on mostly bare soil or tractors with an alternate natural grass cover in the wine region Palatinate, Germany. Soil textures are the same in both comparable sites. The vineyard which was cultivated with horses is referred as vineyard horse and the vineyard which is cultivated mechanically is referred as vineyard tractor. Organic matter shows higher contents in the vineyard horse in topsoil as well as in subsoil. The C/N Ratio shows no big differences. Mineral contents of soil were measured as nitrogen, phosphor, potassium and magnesium with differences in values. The vineyard tractor counts with a higher average number of clusters per vine. Differences in percentage regarding total botrytis are minimal and vineyards show a higher infestation frequency in the vineyard horse but the infestation strength within the grape is lower in this vineyard. The cultivation with horses show higher values as density level, degree in Oechsle, total extract, pH, total acidity, tartaric acid and malic acid. The analyses of nutrients in must show higher contents of macronutrients in the vineyard horse as nitrogen, phosphor, potassium, calcium, sodium and magnesium. Very high differences can be found within the amounts of nitrogen. The micronutrients in must such as iron, zinc, manganese and copper resulted in very similar values. The labor in working with draft animals in vineyards is more than two times higher compared to the vineyard that is mechanized. It is necessary to get a more detailed view including more vintages and more vineyards which can be analyzed in order to come to a more scientifically sound conclusion.

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