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Volume 10
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Article

Autonomous Mowing and Turf-Type Bermudagrass as Innovations for An Environment-Friendly Floor Management of a Vineyard in Coastal Tuscany

by
Simone Magni
1,
Mino Sportelli
1,*,
Nicola Grossi
1,
Marco Volterrani
1,
Alberto Minelli
2,
Michel Pirchio
1,
Marco Fontanelli
1,
Christian Frasconi
1,
Monica Gaetani
1,
Luisa Martelloni
1,
Andrea Peruzzi
1,
Michele Raffaelli
1,
Marco Mazzoncini
1,
Daniele Antichi
1,
Giovanni Caruso
1,
Giacomo Palai
1,
Alberto Materazzi
1,
Gabriele Vittori
3 and
Lisa Caturegli
1
1
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy
2
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
3
Golf Club Livorno srl, 57128 Livorno, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agriculture 2020, 10(5), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10050189
Submission received: 29 April 2020 / Revised: 19 May 2020 / Accepted: 23 May 2020 / Published: 25 May 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agriculture and Viticulture)
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Abstract

The establishment of permanent cover crops is becoming a common practice in vineyard floor management. Turfgrass science may provide species and techniques with a high potential for improving the sustainability of vineyard floor management. Based on this assumption, an experiment was carried out during 2018 and 2019 at the Donna Olimpia Vineyard, Bolgheri, Italy. The trial aimed at comparing an innovative floor management system based on a turf-type cultivar of bermudagrass mown with an autonomous mower with a conventional floor management system. Ground cover percentage, energy consumption, CO2 emissions, grapevine water status, leaf nitrogen content, fruit yield and must composition have been assessed in order to perform the comparison. The innovative vineyard floor management produced an almost complete ground cover (98%) at the end of the second growing season, with the resident species reduced to a small percentage (4%). Resident species growing under-trellis were efficiently controlled without herbicide applications. A lower primary energy consumption and a reduction in CO2 emissions were observed for the innovative management system compared to the conventional management system. Grapevine water status, leaf chlorophyll content, soil–plant analyses development (SPAD), fruit yields and must composition were similar between the different soil management systems. Based on results obtained in this trial, turf-type bermudagrass and innovative mowing machines may contribute to enhance the sustainability of vineyard floor management.
Keywords: soil protection; robotic mower; turfgrass; innovative agronomic practice; soil management soil protection; robotic mower; turfgrass; innovative agronomic practice; soil management

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MDPI and ACS Style

Magni, S.; Sportelli, M.; Grossi, N.; Volterrani, M.; Minelli, A.; Pirchio, M.; Fontanelli, M.; Frasconi, C.; Gaetani, M.; Martelloni, L.; et al. Autonomous Mowing and Turf-Type Bermudagrass as Innovations for An Environment-Friendly Floor Management of a Vineyard in Coastal Tuscany. Agriculture 2020, 10, 189. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10050189

AMA Style

Magni S, Sportelli M, Grossi N, Volterrani M, Minelli A, Pirchio M, Fontanelli M, Frasconi C, Gaetani M, Martelloni L, et al. Autonomous Mowing and Turf-Type Bermudagrass as Innovations for An Environment-Friendly Floor Management of a Vineyard in Coastal Tuscany. Agriculture. 2020; 10(5):189. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10050189

Chicago/Turabian Style

Magni, Simone, Mino Sportelli, Nicola Grossi, Marco Volterrani, Alberto Minelli, Michel Pirchio, Marco Fontanelli, Christian Frasconi, Monica Gaetani, Luisa Martelloni, and et al. 2020. "Autonomous Mowing and Turf-Type Bermudagrass as Innovations for An Environment-Friendly Floor Management of a Vineyard in Coastal Tuscany" Agriculture 10, no. 5: 189. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10050189

APA Style

Magni, S., Sportelli, M., Grossi, N., Volterrani, M., Minelli, A., Pirchio, M., Fontanelli, M., Frasconi, C., Gaetani, M., Martelloni, L., Peruzzi, A., Raffaelli, M., Mazzoncini, M., Antichi, D., Caruso, G., Palai, G., Materazzi, A., Vittori, G., & Caturegli, L. (2020). Autonomous Mowing and Turf-Type Bermudagrass as Innovations for An Environment-Friendly Floor Management of a Vineyard in Coastal Tuscany. Agriculture, 10(5), 189. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10050189

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