Erkenntnisse, Potenzial und Herausforderungen in der Züchtung klimaresilienter Weinreben

Findings, potential, and challenges in the breeding of climate-resilient grapevines: Climate change poses major challenges for viticulture. The changing environmental conditions affect grapevines in many ways and make their cultivation more challenging, forcing viticulturists to adapt. One way for adaptation is by switching the cultivated varieties, with fungus-resistant varieties (PIWIs) being particularly attractive alternatives, as they need up to 80% less fungicides. Nowadays, grapevine breeding programs are working intensively to develop new PIWI grape varieties that are better adapted to changing climatic conditions. However, with a breeding cycle of 20-25 years for a variety, this is a long-lasting process. Breeding research is currently attempting to develop methods that allow for the early testing of traits related to climate resilience, such as tolerance to heat stress, with the aim of making breeding more efficient. New digital sensors and artificial intelligence are key technologies in this effort.