Increase productivity and environmental sustainability in the vineyards of the France-Spain cross-border area through resistant vine varieties.
- Project start: 01/01/2026
- End of the project: 12/31/2028
- Principal researcher: ANA DIEZ
- Financing: EU-INTERREG
- Program: POCTEFA
- Call: INTERREGVI-A Spain-France-Andorra (POCTEFA 2021-2027)
- Reference: EFA232/06 TRANSFERS
- Acronym: TRANSFERS
- Total consortium budget: €1,008,436.37
- NEIKER budget: €89,797.50
- Partners: NEIKER, Agri-Food Research and Technology Center of Aragon, ARTOMAÑA TXAKOLINA, S.L., INCAVI, IFV (Pôle Sud-Ouest), Chambre d’Agriculture de la Haute-Garonne (Haute-garonne) and Viñas del Vero S.A.U.
General Objective
To increase the productivity and environmental sustainability of grapevine cultivation in areas where production is highly compromised by disease and other environmental factors such as drought, through the use of resistant or tolerant varieties.
Project Summary
Cross-border collaboration between groups in France and Spain will facilitate the exchange of experiences regarding improved grapevine varieties. These varieties currently represent a key tool for effectively reducing the use of fungicides in vineyard health management, thanks to their genetic resistance to diseases such as downy mildew and powdery mildew. Their gradual implementation in European vineyards will fully align with green policies that limit the use of plant protection products. Simultaneously, varieties tolerant to abiotic stresses, such as drought, are also being developed, which is especially relevant in the current context of climate change. The project proposes to: evaluate the performance of new disease-resistant varieties in different terroirs within the POCTEFA region; create and evaluate disease-resistant and drought-tolerant varieties, based on French varieties and indigenous varieties from the Mediterranean region; train technicians in varietal development within the POCTEFA region; and transfer the results and innovative products derived from the project to producers and consumers. The transfer of knowledge about these varieties to both the production and consumer sectors is fundamental to assessing their level of acceptance, without diminishing the importance of traditional indigenous varieties, in which research will also be conducted on disease resistance or tolerance. In France, some of these resistant varieties are already used in commercial wine production. Visits by Spanish winegrowers to these farms will allow them to learn firsthand about the agronomic and oenological qualities of the resistant varieties, as will visits to newly planted or recently established vineyards in some areas of Spain within the POCTEFA zone.
