VINID’OCC: a key challenge to support varietal innovation for the future of viticulture and oenology in Occitanie
On Friday, September 16, 2022, at the Capdeville space in the Occitanie Region, René Moreno, Occitanie Regional Councilor, Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, Jean Philippe Steyer, Deputy Head of the Transform Department at INRAE, and Vincent Charvillat, Vice President Research INP Toulouse, officially launched the VINID'OCC Regional Key Challenge.
Key Challenges for the Occitanie Region
Key Challenges are initiatives launched by the Occitanie Region to support collective dynamics among research stakeholders in Occitanie. Their aim is to encourage the structuring of scientific communities around strategic regional issues. Among the 15 Challenges launched since 2021, the University of Montpellier is leading Key Challenges on the themes of biodiversity, water, infectious risks, and vines and wine. The VINID'OCC Key Challenge aims to develop multidisciplinary, fundamental, and applied research around the general theme of innovations for the viticulture and oenology of the future in Occitanie.
The VINID’OCC project, winner of the Occitanie Region’s “Key Challenges” competition
Based in the world's largest vineyard in terms of surface area for wines of origin, VINID'OCC will develop fundamental research of international scope on vines and wine, from the gene to the bottle and to consumers, in order to acquire knowledge and accelerate changes in viticultural practices throughout the entire chain of plant material, production, processing, and markets necessary to support varietal innovation. VINID'OCC addresses the challenges of reducing the use of plant protection products, mitigating the effects of climate change on vine cultivation, and the necessary changes in the sector. The project brings together all the multidisciplinary scientific forces present in the region, in line with the scientific strategies of the project's academic partners.
To meet these objectives, the project will focus on the following areas of development:
- Characterization of plant material & development of new varieties
- Building knowledge to support developments in viticulture and oenology in relation to new disease-resistant varieties that are more resilient to climate change
- Preparing for the acceptability of innovations
This project, with an allocated budget of €2 million, is led by Patrice This, Director of Research at the UMR AGAP Institute, and co-led by Fabienne Remize, Professor at the University of Montpellier, UMR SPO, Bruno Blondin, Professor at Institut Agro Montpellier, UMR SPO, and Christian Chervin, Professor at INP Toulouse, UMR LRSV. It will be implemented over a period of four years.
"This fourth key regional challenge, led by the University of Montpellier, will enable the development of fundamental research of international significance on vines and wine in light of the major challenges facing the sector, particularly climate change. The Region's impetus is decisive in this action. This challenge brings together an entire scientific community with no fewer than 18 research units and more than 300 researchers who will work collectively to respond to these challenges with socio-economic actors in Montpellier and Toulouse." Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier
List of academic partners in the project:
- University of Montpellier (UM) – lead institution for the Key Challenge
- CNRS – National Center for Research
- EPHE – École Pratique des Hautes Études (Practical School of Advanced Studies)
- INP – National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse
- INRAE – National Research Institute Research Agriculture, Food, and the Environment
- Montpellier Agricultural Institute
- IRD – Research Institute Research Development
- UT3 – University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier
VINID’OCC research projects already selected (€250,000 per project)
- Plastivigne: Studying the diversity of the grapevine genome in order to improve knowledge of the variability of its gene content and the presence of structural variations likely to modulate the expression of traits of interest for adaptation to climate change.
- Vitifuture: Generate knowledge on innovative varieties, particularly those resistant to fungal diseases, across a range of water availability conditions and in cropping systems that utilize agroecological practices. Provide technical guidelines for designing and managing new viticultural systems that meet the challenges of tomorrow.
- Oenovard’Occ: Gain a better understanding of the oenological potential of a wide range of varieties, including powdery mildew/downy mildew-resistant varieties and red grapes, and determine the oenological criteria that are important for assessing the final quality of wines.
- Perception: Support the rollout of sustainable plant variety innovations that are suited to different regions and markets. Identify and remove barriers to the adoption of plant variety innovations by producers and markets by mobilizing stakeholders in the sector.
In addition to these projects, phenotyping equipment will be purchased (€300,000), complementary research projects will be supported, and several dissemination activities will be carried out.