Potential of Cover Crops to Control Arthropod Pests in Organic Viticulture

Plant diversity has the potential to conserve beneficials and thereby naturally controlling arthropod pests. Beneficials’ activity can be increased by pollen-rich plant species. Here we aimed develop innovative viticultural systems that control pests, increasing within vineyards planting of selected cover crops. The experimental were set-up in Chablis (France), Piacenza (Italy), Murfatlar (Romania), Manče (Slovenia), Valencia (Spain) Nyon (Switzerland). Each vineyard was divided a traditional subplot monitored 2019 2020. effect crops on arthropods assessed according common protocol using visual samplings specific traps. Analysing obtained data, there no statistically significant differences abundance sampled pests systems. Yet, two five studied pest species tended less abundant Regarding beneficials, flying parasitoids bees benefit from compared Alike, predators such as spiders carabids more with understorey vegetation. Overall, biodiversity seems but without necessarily favouring suppression.