InputsInput reduction & vine resilience

Reduced spraying & integrated protection for input reduction & vine resilience

The impact, measured

90 /100

Time horizon: Immediate

Why it works

It is the practice that cuts inputs most directly: fewer passes, less product and copper within the legal cap.

What to measure for this pairing

Spray passes per seasonCopper applied (7-yr mean)

Why this goal matters

Cutting inputs lowers cost and environmental pressure without sacrificing the vine. Living soil and a balanced vine need less nitrogen, less herbicide and less fungicide — and tolerate pests and disease better.

The route is replacing routine interventions with informed decisions: soil-driven nutrition, pest monitoring and integrated protection. Recording what you apply — and what you no longer apply — is what proves the reduction and stays inside limits such as organic copper caps.

Goal indicators

Synthetic nitrogen per hectareSpray passes per seasonCopper applied (kg/ha, 7-yr mean)Herbicide-treated area (%)

Market & certification: Required by organic, integrated production and the EU copper cap (28 kg/ha over 7 years).

How to implement the practice

  1. 1Monitor disease risk and pest catches per plot.
  2. 2Apply action thresholds before deciding to treat.
  3. 3Log each application with product, rate and active substance.
  4. 4Track the 7-year rolling copper mean.

Frequently asked

Doesn’t cutting sprays raise the risk of losing the crop?

No, if decisions are risk- and monitoring-based. The goal is to remove the unnecessary treatments, not the necessary ones.

How do I stay within the copper limit?

By logging every application and summing the active substance on the 7-year rolling mean — exactly what the phytosanitary register does automatically.

Same practice, other goals

Same goal, other practicesInputs

Related reading →Downy mildew: reading the risk and timing the spray

How GrapeFlow helps

The proof certification and buyers ask for — logged by plot and date.

Phytosanitary register & copper balance

Every treatment is logged with product, rate and active substance, and copper is summed on the 7-year rolling mean — direct proof of input reduction.

Field observations & pest monitoring

Beneficial counts, trap catches and disease observations logged in the field, so you decide to treat (or not) on data.

Electronic field notebook

Log every operation — cover sowing, grazing, composting, mowing — by plot and date, with an audit-ready history that proves the practice over the years.