Controlled grass cover

• Procedure  : Maintenance of a plant cover, natural or seeded, on the inter row and possibly the row

• Phytosanitary interests :
  • The maintenance of a vegetal carpet on the inter row makes it possible to limit the use of herbicides.
  • Vegetation cover can also play the role of competing vegetation for the vine to limit its vigor and thus its susceptibility to diseases.
  • No direct effect on diseases
  • Induced effect: limits the development of diseases by limiting vigor (powdery mildew, gray and acid rots, mildew) 

• Interests of the technique :
  
  • Adapt the quantity and quality of the harvest in relation to production objectives and soil water constraints
  • Level production from one year to the next

• Induced effects :
  • Increase the quality potential of the harvest
  • Save on herbicides and pesticides (prophylactic effects by reduced vigor)
  • Improvement of the physical properties of the soil:
    • decompactant effect of root tissue, increased structural stability, porosity and permeability of the soil
    • better bearing capacity for machines: rapid intervention
  • Improve the biological properties of the soil: source of organic matter (burial of the canopy?), Increase
    biological soil life
  • Limit the development of mildew because: limitation of vigor, increase in evaporation in wet areas and "screen" effect which prevents primary contamination by splashing
  • Increase the sites for the auxiliaries according to the species of the cover in most cases, limit runoff and erosion phenomena (depending on the width of the grassy strip)
  • Limit product runoff
  • Promote biodiversity according to the species of cover (but some permanent grasslands sown can be poor in terms of biodiversity)