Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze viticole ed enologiche - SVE

The program is in the learning area of Production and Quality  of Grapes.

 The course provides knowledge on plant pathogens and insects noxious to grapevine, on control end prevention methods that can be applied in the vineyards and in the nurseries, with emphasis on grapevine pathogens transmitted by insect vectors

The students will be able, through the skills provided by the course:

- to identify the most important species of pathogens and insects, indigenous and exotic, with a high risk of introduction, which cause direct and indirect damages of economic interest to grapevine

- to evaluate the influence of the environment on development of pathogen and insect populations in the vineyard, on the epidemiology of the plant pathogens they transmit

- to set up appropriate protection and prevention strategies, with particular emphasis on techniques with a low environmental impact

Knowledge

At the end of the course the student will have theoretical and practical knowledge on:

-          identification of grapevine pathogens and insects

-          Impact of pest insects and diseases on grapevine production

-          Role of vector insects in spreading grapevine pathogenic viruses and bacteria

-         Grapevine insect pest and disease control and prevention tools, including insecticides/fungicides, agronomic, mechanical, biological ones 

ability to apply knowldege

At the end of the course the student will  bew able to:

-          design prevention and control programs of several pathogens and pests of grapevine

-          design prevention and control programs of  grapevine diseases transmitted by vector insects

-          design rational plans for the application of pesticides and alternative control methods in order to maximize efficacy and minimize side effects, thus preventing damages to beneficial organisms and avoiding the selection of pesticide-resistance strains

Indipendent thinking

At the end of the course the students will be able to evaluate and choose the best control programs against selected pathogens and pest insects  of grapevine

Communication skills

The students will acquire a correct terminology on entomology/plant pathology and control methods. Moreover, by the analysis of papers and of scientific seminars, they will develop the ability to analyse and understand scientific works

Learning ability

At the end of the course the students will be able to evaluate and compare the different grapevine pests/pathogens control options as well as to identify useful and reliable sources of scientific information

The course is made of 66 hours of classes, 6 hours of practicals/seminars and 8 hours for a field trip to vitucultural farm and nursery. The lectures are conducted through the use of presentations and videos that are available for the students as a supplement to the suggested texts and bibliographic material

At the end of the classes, the teacher will elicit a discussion on the topic that has been presented, in order to check the level of understanding of the students.

The final examination is oral and the topics covered in the exam are those of classes, practicals and field trip. 

visual identification of the main symptomatologies of grapevine diseases and of insect vectors of the vineyard agroecosystem 

Insights on the main grapevine diseases. The grapevine sanitary selection. Detection tools for the identification and characterization of grapevine pathogens. Novel achievements for the containment and the management of the fungal diseases: fungicides, predictive models and their use for the disease management. Novel achievements for the disease control and management: new technologies and regulation protocols for the disease prevention and use of chemicals with lower impact for the environment.

The vineyard agro-ecosystem and insects. Ecology, ethology and biological cycles. Insecticides and their application in the vineyard. Managing the onset of resistance. Pheromone-based control of insects in the vineyard. Innovative and sustainable insect control tools. Epidemiological cycles of Flavescence dorée and Bois Noir and vector control. Xylella fastidiosa and grapevine: epidemiology of Pierce’s Disease and risk assessment in Italian vineyards. Mealybugs and scale insects vectoring viruses to grapevine. Invasive species and their impact to the vineyard agroecosystem. Field trip to viticultural farm and nursery

Belli G. 2011. Elementi di Patologia Vegetale, Piccin editore

Reverberi M. 2022. Patologia vegetale molecolare, Piccin-Nuova Libraria, Padova

Andrea Lucchi 2017 .Note di Entomologia viticola. Pisa University Press

Scientific and technical papers; Power Point presentations of the classes will be available on the CampusNet Platform.

The course will be held in the ASTISS university campus.

Teaching activity may be varied according to the limitations imposed by the current health emergency.