VISCA DSS is integrating climate and agricultural models with farmers’ management specifications in order to design short practices, medium- and long-term adaptation strategies to climate change.

In the Douro Valley, where our Portuguese demonstration site is located, the combination of abundant rainfall in March and April of 2020 and a very warm winter influenced the precocity of this year’s growth cycle, with budbreak recorded three weeks earlier than average. These conditions caused recurrent and earlier than expected outbreaks of downy mildew. However, with the predictions supplied by VISCA, the Symington viticulture team was able to plan a very effective treatment schedule, which successfully contained the disease.

Flowering also advanced earlier, arriving two weeks ahead of the regional average, and in order to safeguard good fruit set and ensure a healthy crop, the team at Symington continues to rely on timely VISCA predictions to plan ahead and keep disease pressures at bay.

DSS showing that budbreak has been achieved (May 2020)

Pictures of Ataíde vineyard of first week of May 2020 showing the phenological stage of bloom

During April, VISCA DSS predicted higher rainfall than normal in Douro. This increase of precipitation would risk the spread of grape diseases causing some loss of crops. To avoid this loss, the Viticulturists of Symington have decided to make 4 treatments sprays instead of 3 with an earlier positioning than usual in the calendar, to block the downy mildew cycle.

VISCA project has been developing a Decision Support System (DSS) that integrates climate and agricultural models with farmers’ management specifications in order to design short practices, medium- and long-term adaptation strategies to climate change. After more than three years since the launch of our project, we are publishing the ‘VISCA Booklet on Preliminary Results’. The booklet gives an overview of the project, a description of the DSS and the integrated climate services, the added value of these services with testimonies from the end-users as well as the preliminary results driven from the demonstration sites in Italy, Portugal and Spain. The booklet also presents an overview of the replicability and the way forward (exploitation). You may download VISCA Booklet here.

Conclusions from the Decadal Projections Performance Report

Facing climate change and climate variability is one of the main challenges in viticulture. Developing strategic actions to adapt viticulture to the impacts of a warmer climate is one of the main interests of the sector, which has been suffering for changes in the quality and yield.

A report has recently been published by VISCA project ‘Decadal projection performance report (D2.5)’ which provides a set of regional climate projections at European scale and at demosites of the project (Campania region, Mirabella Eclano Estate (Mastroberardino-Italy), Costers del Segre region, Raimat hills (Codorniu- Spain),  Douro Valley, Porto (Symington-Portugal)). These projections would bring an added value for the wine industry to plan long-term adaptation strategies to face climate change and a new climate variability in the coming decades.

First of all, EURO-CORDEX climate projections have been analysed in terms of their ability to reproduce the historical climate. As a result, it has been confirmed that EURO-CORDEX is representing correctly the temporal and spatial correlation of the main interesting variables such as mean temperature and precipitation, climate extremes such as droughts, spring frosts and heatwaves and, finally, specific agronomical parameters such the Winkler index.

After that, the analysis of climate projections at European scale and at demosites is providing by comparing the climatology off the period 2070-2099 against the historical period 1976-2005. In terms of precipitation, a decrease in the southern European countries, which is more intense in the summer months. In terms of temperature, there is a clear increase throughout Europe, although it is more intense in southern countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and in norther countries like Sweden and Finland. Regarding extreme events, there is an increase of the length of droughts, especially in the Iberian Peninsula, a decrease of frost days in spring months and an increase of heatwaves, especially in the southern European countries.

VISCA project has published recently 3 new public deliverables related to the analysis of climate projections at the European scale and particularly at the demosites of the project, report on a full year application of the CS-DSS and VISCA booklet presenting preliminary results.

You may download them below:

• VISCA_Deliverable 2.5: Decadal projection performance report
• VISCA_Deliverable 4.8: Second preliminary report between research teams (WP2), DSS developers and end-users on a full year application of the CS-DSS
• VISCA_Deliverable 5.5: Booklet on VISCA results (Draft)

A radio interview has been recently made by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF; English: Swiss Radio and Television) with VISCA consortium during the 3rd General Meeting and Stakeholder's Workshop. The interview discussed about climate change implications in vineyards and how our project is responding to these challenges and helping farmers adapt to climate change through providing climate services accessible via VISCA DSS.

You may listen to the interview by clicking on this link. VISCA interview starts in minute 40:40 (in German).

**SRF is a Swiss broadcasting company and one of the largest electronic media house of German-speaking Switzerland and has its main studios in Basel, Bern and Zürich.

The second issue of VISCA Newsletter is very special as it presents our Decision Support System which combines climate, phenology and irrigation services with several added values aiming to support viticulturists in climate change adaptation and daily operation. We’ve also launched the registration call to join our next workshop which will take place on 11th December 2019 in Barcelona.

Check it out here and subscribe to receive the next issue of our newsletter!

The 3^rd VISCA Stakeholders workshop will take place on 11th December 2019 in Barcelona. The event will present VISCA DSS where participants will get a free access to the tool. The event will host interesting exchanges and roundtables with the VISCA partners, Advisory Board members and external guests about the status-quo of climate services in the agriculture sector and the replicability opportunities in other vineyards as well as in olives and cereals. Check the agenda [link] and REGISTER to join us [link] either in Barcelona or online latest by December 5^th at noon!

We look forward to welcoming you in our workshop, don’t hesitate to transfer this call for registration or send us any inquiries you may have to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.