Highlight the global importance of ungrafted viticulture, reaffirm its inestimable value from a genetic and biodiversity perspective, define its environmental, social, and economic sustainability, and predict the potential economic benefits of ungrafted viticulture, including through the Destination Management System and the redevelopment of villages. Finally, develop an Integrated Protocol to safeguard ungrafted viticulture and the agricultural system as a whole.
With this ambitious program, on September 8th in Ercolano, professors, scientists, journalists, and winemakers will gather to discuss viticulture in Piede Franco at the conference entitled "Progress and Evolution for an Integrated System of Defense, Preservation, and Valorization," organized by the Identità Mediterranea Association.
To understand the meaning of "ungrafted vine," we need to go back to the second half of the 80th century, when phylloxera attacked and destroyed a large portion (about XNUMX%) of European grape varieties. To combat the enemy and create resistant varieties, it was decided to graft European vines onto the roots of American vines, creating hybrid varieties.
But at the same time, there were vines that were not grafted onto the roots of American plants because, for various reasons, phylloxera was unable to attack them due to the type of soil and altitude; vines grown on high-altitude soils, above 1000 meters above sea level, because the low temperatures prevent phylloxera from surviving; and vines grown on sandy, clayey, or volcanic soils because these types of soils inhibit the proliferation of the insect.
When we talk about ungrafted vines, we're referring precisely to these varieties. The conference "Progress and Evolution for an Integrated System of Defense, Preservation, and Valorization," to be held at Villa Campolieto, Corso Resina 283 in Ercolano (Naples), will feature speakers including Roberto Cipresso, an internationally renowned winemaker and writer; Luciano Pignataro, Professor of Food and Wine Communication at the Federico II University of Naples; and Marco Serra, President of the Salerno Wine Consortium. Further contributing to the dissemination of knowledge about ungrafted viticulture will be Stefano Del Lungo, a researcher and archaeologist who has long been committed to studying the transformation of territories and settlements between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, delving into road networks, cultural biodiversity, including viticulture through archaeology and molecular biology in Southern Italy; Gaetano Conte, an expert agronomist with a multidisciplinary vision of viticulture; and Teresa Del Giudice, a professor of Agricultural, Food, and Rural Appraisal Economics, with previous experience in Agricultural Sciences and Agribusiness.
The conference is organized by the Identità Mediterranea Cultural Association, founded on July 12, 2016, and chaired by Gaetano Cataldo. The association has always been committed to promoting the culture of the Mare Nostrum through the promotion of its landscape heritage, the dissemination of food and wine traditions, and the preservation of Mediterranean biodiversity.
The National Conference on Ungrafted Viticulture enjoys the moral patronage of the Regional Council of Campania, the Department of Agriculture of the Federico II University of Naples, the National Association of Wine Cities, the Salerno Wine Consortium, the Monti Lattari Onlus Foundation, the Vesuvius Villas Foundation, and the MAVV-Wine Art Museum.
