In 2016, the OIV (International Organisation of Vines and Wine) described grapevine trunk diseases (GTD) as one of the most relevant challenges for viticulture. A study from 2012 suggests that the worldwide economic impact of GTDs is estimated to exceed $1.5 billion per year. Considered today to be the “silent killer” of our vineyards, the pathogens will mainly attack perennial grapevine organs and eventually lead to the death of the vine, severely impacting the life and health of young vines.

With no existing curative methods that will mitigate this family of diseases, the current focus of the scientific community is to increase epidemiological knowledge in order to provide preventive measures such as rethinking our pruning methods and limiting the deadly propagation of the disease in our vineyards. During this session, Dr. Kendra Baumgartner from USDA, UC Davis, will present current knowledge on GTDs and soft-pruning expert, Mia Fischer from Simonit & Sirch, will share worldwide experience in the field and some preventive methods they advise to limit propagation of GTDs.
 

Spanish translation included.