ABSTRACT
European experience in viticulture over the last few decades indicates the advantage of a strategy in integrated pest control based on biological means understood in the broad sense. Among the factors in favour of such an orientation are: 1) the good power of the plant to bear the infesting agents’ attacks, thanks to the abundance of vegetative organs; in addition to that the industrial transformation of the product makes it possible to accept within certain limits those aesthetic faults that in other crops increase the need for treatments; 2) a high biological potential of the vine ecosystem which enables it to hold back pests partially or, sometimes, even totally; 3) the possibility of influencing the habitat of pests through routine operations. Deeper knowledge of the relations between the micro-climate and the components of the agro-ecosystem is becoming indispensable, and is important for adequate use of cultivation practices, too. The need to develop an agro-meteorological network in the wine-growing areas is discussed. In particular, the usefulness of extending research into the influence of the wind on the spread of arthropods, on the efficiency of pheromone traps and the epidemiology of plant diseases is pointed out.
The analyses and the use of data in such a complex system of approaches and models demand use of computer technology and steady abandonment of intuitive solutions.
