Luca Simone RIZZO*, Raffaela Gabriella RIZZO** *Univ. of Modena and Reggio Emilia (lucasimone_rizzo@libero.it), **Univ. of Verona, Dept. Arts, Archeology, History and Society (raffaelagabriella.rizzo@univr.it) Step 1 A methodology for studying the technological upgrading of vineyards in the western Veneto (Italy). Relationships between the actors and mapping based on AVEPA data enhanced by an apposite survey Step 2 Univeristies and Research Centres DESI – Univesity of Verona; Dept. of Quantitative Methods – University of Brescia; CRA of Conegliano; Enterprises and others Consorzio delle Cantine Sociali di Verona; Cantina di Colognola ai Colli; Cantina di Soave; Cantina di San Bonifacio; Casa Vinicola Sartori; Compagnia Generale Riprese Aeree, Parma; Consorzio di Tutela Vini Soave e Recioto di Soave; Informatore Agrario Regional/Local Institutions The Veneto Region [Agenzia Veneta per i Pagamenti in Agricoltura (AVEPA) and Veneto Agricoltura]; Chamber of Commerce of Verona Our research takes into consideration the wine production sector in the Western Veneto. It proposes to examine its propensity to modernize. Statistical and cartographic analysis of the data provided by the Regional Agency for Agricultural Payments (AVEPA) demonstrate the changes in agricultural patterns and methods of production. In combination with case study research, the analysis allowed us to identify paths of development and resulting territorialisation processes. Keywords Viticulture, modernisation, quality, restructuring and planting conversion, limited-vegetation vine training systems, networking, territorialisation processes Abstract Organizations involved Enhanced Knowledge Map Survey + Field work AVEPA data Qualitative analysis of the processes Statistical Analysis Cartographic analysis Decision support system Efficacy of cognitive decisions Progress Year of planting Training Sstem Total Other Traditional Systems G.D.C. Espalier <=1990 5,53 6.047,98 12,62 35,46 6.101,60 >1990 6,98 1.158,77 88,68 897,7 2.152,13 Total 12,52 7.206,75 101,3 933,16 8.253,73 Area under wine (in hectars), by training system and year of planting in the 8 communes Source: AVEPA data (2008) processed by L.S. Rizzo and R. Prisco 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 % of the area planted using espalier systems by year of planting in the 8 communes Source: AVEPA data (2008) processed by L.S. Rizzo and R. Prisco 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Espalier 0,51 69,47 56,00 g.d.c. 0,00 0,22 0,17 Traditional Systems 98,63 30,31 43,65 Other 0,86 0,00 0,17 <= 1990 >1990 Total % of the area planted with Corvinone, by training systems and year of planting Objective: to highlight the gradual process of conversion taking place in the area below represented towards espalier training systems. Sample: 3,076 farms growing vines (36,155 units under vine; AVEPA, 2004 - 2009). Variables: a) company’s identifying code; b) national code of the commune and of the Province; c) cadastral parcel; d) possessory title; e) type of management (ownership or rental); specifically viticultural elements: area under management (“agricultural use of the land”), grape variety, year of planting, the training system and the method of irrigation. Statistical method: dependency analysis. Method used to treat the quantitative data: correlation; to analyse the qualitative data: double entry table (by comparing the different conditional distributions. Comparing them with the marginal distribution as well allowed for a comparison with the global situation). The variable “year of planting” refers to the year in which the vineyard was constituted/reconstituted. It relates only to vineyards cultivated and/or in production at the time of the survey Results (all varieties): the analysis confirms the Verona area’s predisposition towards "total modernization", marking out the beginning of the 1990s as the “watershed years”; there emerges a positive trend for espalier training systems – from 0.58% to 41.71% - compared to a decrease in plantings using traditional systems. In the 8 communes this pattern is confirmed (pondered correlation: high, at 0.75). We see no particular difference between white and black grapes with regard to their propensity to have the training systems in the vineyards “converted” for the purposes of mechanization. Certain varieties – according to those we interviewed in order to substantiate what we had discovered when processing the data –showed themselves to be more suitable for mechanization, a fact that seems to some extent to have influenced vine growers’ choices. The case of Corvina and Corvinone (cultivars typical of the zone) is particularly significant in this respect. Objective – To visualize the “improved performance”, in a technological sense, of Veronese viticulture, by mapping the gradual process of changeover to espalier training systems, which allow for partial or total mechanization of the vineyards. Methodology – The AVEPA dataset was enhanced by data obtained from field surveys in order to create a map – through a GIS - which demonstrates the trend mentioned above. Given the complexity of the analysis, we limited ourselves to working on a just a portion of the whole territory for which our statistical database was constructed: an illustrative sample area, situated in the commune of Lavagno in the Province of Verona where the phenomenon of replanting has been particularly significant (see the figure to the left). To the work just mentioned we added a qualitative analysis n the form of semi-structured interviews, designed to establish the motives, processes and changes in the behaviour of the actors responsible for this catching up and technological upgrading of Veronese vine-growing. Results – One notes the predominance of traditional training methods (yellow polygons: Pergola and Tendone), with pockets of modernization (highlighted in purple: G.D.C., Cordon Spur and Guyot) which become more conspicuous as one approaches the boundaries of the Soave D.O.C. area, a denomination whose principal grape variety is Garganega, which is less suitable for mechanization and which is most often associated with the “Pergola Veronese” training system. Our visualization also shows how the change from traditional to modern sometimes reveals a mixed system (blue polygons: e.g., Pergola and Guyot), in which different vine training techniques coexist. The vineyards without polygons were not included in the information provided by AVEPA, but were revealed to be of particular significance by our field survey because they actually underwent replanting and conversion in April 2010. These vineyards were identified by superimposing orthophotos (CGRA, Parma, 2007) on the AVEPA polygonal layer. The result of this comparison led to the need to verify the reason for the absence of polygons by means of research in the field. This empirical phase confirmed the actual existence of these vineyards (see the photo to the left of the figure). Another of our aims was to take photographs at different times for the purposes of comparison, thereby giving a historical perspective which is perhaps outside the usual remit of a public institution. This enabled us to capture any spatial alterations. The map provides a simplified and “abstract” picture of the subject under study: it represents a point of departure (and arrival) for interpreting the territory. It does not furnish more detailed information, such as, for example, the “quality” of the operations carried out on the vineyards. Our field survey allowed us to forecast a change that is scarcely evident from the data. Our method – which can be carried over to other crops, territorial contexts and scales – allows one to identify the speed of change, and its pervasiveness as well. …Implications in terms of territorialisation processes - The analysis of geodata accompanied by continual surveys and controls in the field allowed us to register that there are lots of new vineyards planted on slopes and fans or straddling ridges of various sizes; thanks to modern earth-moving methods and planting using laser and GPS technologies, vineyards now soften and “tame” morphologies and other surfaces, even of large dimensions. Concluding remarks The area under study in the Province of Verona - Italy