A GIS-Based Multicriteria Index to Evaluate the Mechanisability Potential of Italian Vineyard Area

Alessia Cogato, Andrea Pezzuolo, Claus Grøn Sørensen, Roberta De Bei, Marco Sozzi and Francesco Marinello
Additional contact information
Alessia Cogato: Department of Land, Environmental, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Via dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Andrea Pezzuolo: Department of Land, Environmental, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Via dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Claus Grøn Sørensen: Department of Engineering, Aarhus Universitet, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark
Roberta De Bei: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, Adelaide, SA 5064, Australia
Marco Sozzi: Department of Land, Environmental, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Via dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Francesco Marinello: Department of Land, Environmental, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Via dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Planting criteria of new vineyards should comply with rational and sustainable criteria, taking into account the potential mechanisability of existing viticultural areas. However, an established methodology for this assessment is still lacking. This study aimed at analysing the parameters which influence the vineyard mechanisability, with the objective to propose a new mechanisability index. The mechanisability index proposed was based on GIS-analysis of landscape and management parameters such as mean slope, shape of the vineyard block, length-width ratio, headland size, training system and row spacing. We identified a sample of 3686 vineyards in Italy. Based on the above-mentioned parameters, vineyards were categorised by their level of mechanisability ( l.m. ) into four classes. Moreover, we analysed the correlation between l.m. and economic indicators (area planted with vineyard and wine production). Results showed that the main factors limiting the mechanisability potential of some Italian regions are the elevated slopes, horizontal training systems and narrow vine spacings. The l.m. showed a moderate positive correlation with the size of vineyards and the volume and value of production. The methodology presented in this study may be easily applied to other viticultural areas around the world, serving as a management decision-making tool.

Keywords: agricultural mechanisation; territorial analysis; viticulture; agricultural engineering; mechanisation index; farming machinery; land planning; land use; vineyard management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/469/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/469/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:11:p:469-:d:449289

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().