Abstract
The BIO-C-VITE project explores the potential of biochar to enhance the productivity and sustainability of vineyard cultivation by improving soil fertility, increasing grape yield, preserving fruit quality, and enabling carbon sequestration. The main objective of the BIO-C-VITE project is to generate representative data on the health status of vineyard soils amended with biochar, based on medium- and long-term field trials involving different grapevine cultivars and rootstocks, pedo-climatic conditions, management practices, and biochar types and application rates. Soil health is assessed using standardized physico-chemical and biological indicators, alongside carbon modelling approaches that can inform policy development, particularly in relation to the new EU Common Agricultural Policy and other environmental strategies. Main Results: 1. To assess the potential of biochar to restore and enhance soil health in vineyards by analysing plant and soil data from medium- and long-term field trials conducted in four key wine-producing regions, using soil health indicators established by EC/FAO/OECD and agricultural policy frameworks. 2. To develop and validate biological indicators of soil health through the analysis of microbial communities and soil fauna endpoints. 3. To evaluate the environmental impact, ecosystem services, and socio-economic implications of biochar amendments, and to provide policy guidelines for sustainable soil management and the incentivization of best agricultural practices, based on Life Cycle Assessment.
Results achieved
: The Bio-C-Vite project assessed the long-term effects of amending vineyard soils with biochar, either alone or mixed with compost, in four wine-producing districts of central/northern Italy. The study was based on field trials lasting from 8 to 15 years and designed with replicated layouts, allowing comparisons between amended and non-amended soils. The four vineyards were Tebano (T), in Emilia-Romagna, Braccesca (BR) and Poggio Torselli (PT), both in Tuscany, and Labers (L), in Alto Adige/South Tyrol. Bio-C-Vite aimed to generate representative data on biochar-amended vineyard soils by exploiting a unique network of long-term field experiments. The main objectives were: (i) to assess soil health using physical and chemical consensus indicators proposed by the EC, FAO, and OECD; (ii) to develop and validate biological soil health indicators based on microbial endpoints and soil fauna; and (iii) to evaluate environmental and socioeconomic impacts by integrating sustainability assessment with physicochemical and biological indicators. The specific objectives were to validate soil health indicators, including organic carbon and nitrogen content, phosphorus balance, soil erosion risk, ammonia emissions, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water retention; to test biological indicators; to integrate physical, chemical, and biological indicators into a minimum dataset; to model the effects of biochar on soil organic carbon dynamics using a modified RothC model; and to assess the link between soil health and vine productivity. The project also aimed to disseminate results through soil literacy initiatives. The first results concern soil health, with attention to physical, chemical and biochemical endpoints. Overall, organic amendments, especially biochar, improved soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) compared with untreated soils. The results indicate that soil management and organic amendments can strongly influence vineyard soil hydraulic properties. Ksat is closely related to soil structure, pore connectivity and aggregate stability, all of which are affected by management practices and organic matter inputs. At Tebano (T), the increase in Ksat observed in plots with higher yield levels may indicate improved soil structure in more productive vineyard areas. Higher biological activity, root development and organic matter inputs could have contributed to stable macropore formation, enhancing infiltration and soil permeability. At Labers (L), the higher Ksat values observed under biochar suggest that this amendment promoted a more favourable pore structure than the other treatments. Differences among treatments may be related to soil disturbance, organic matter content or biological activity affecting pore continuity and aggregation. The most pronounced effects were observed at Braccesca (BR), where organic amendments substantially modified soil hydraulic properties. Biochar produced the highest Ksat values, probably because of its porous structure and capacity to improve aggregation and microporosity. Biochar may also stimulate microbial activity and stable aggregate formation. Compost improved hydraulic conductivity compared with the control, although less markedly than biochar. The biochar-compost mixture (BC-Mix) produced intermediate results. Overall, these findings highlight the role of organic amendments in improving soil physical quality and water infiltration, reducing runoff and erosion while increasing water availability for vines. The analysis of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nutrients, micronutrients and potentially toxic elements showed significant differences in selected cases. In particular, pH differed in the Braccesca (BR) soil, which was acidic in the control and neutral in the biochar treatments, namely B, corresponding to one biochar application, and BB, corresponding to two biochar applications. Organic carbon content was higher in amended soils than in the respective controls at all sites. The second set of results concerns biological indicators of soil health, based on microbial endpoints and soil fauna. Soil biological quality was assessed using the QBS-ar index, namely the Soil Biological Quality index based on microarthropods. This index evaluates soil biological quality by considering the presence and ecological adaptation of soil microarthropod groups. Soil samples were collected from the four vineyard sites and analysed according to the QBS-ar protocol. Each taxonomic group was assigned an Eco-Morphological Index (EMI) value according to its adaptation to soil life. The QBS-ar index showed variability among the four vineyard sites. Poggio Torselli (PT) showed the highest values overall, ranging from approximately 100 to 125, with a median slightly above 105, suggesting high soil biological activity and biodiversity. Braccesca (BR) showed intermediate values, mostly between 80 and 100, with a median around 90, indicating moderate soil biological quality. Labers (L) displayed values between approximately 80 and 100, with a median close to 90 and limited variability, suggesting a homogeneous soil biological community. Tebano (T) showed a wider range, from approximately 80 to 120, with a median close to 95-100, indicating greater variability among samples. These differences likely reflect variations in management, organic matter content, soil structure and environmental conditions. Overall, the QBS-ar index proved useful for assessing soil biological quality in vineyard ecosystems. Higher values correspond to more complex and stable soil communities, associated with improved functions such as nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and soil structure formation. The results underline the importance of sustainable soil management practices in vineyards, because maintaining high biological quality is essential for long-term soil health. The third set of results concerns the environmental and socioeconomic assessment. The use of biochar as a soil amendment generally showed positive effects on productivity, although the magnitude varied according to site-specific geographical and soil characteristics. The environmental performance of biochar application was strongly influenced by the production technology considered. However, when a total carbon balance was implemented and the life-cycle assessment (LCA) results were combined with the values obtained using the RothC model, a clear advantage emerged in terms of carbon removal. This advantage was related to the storage in soil of biomass-derived carbon enabled by biochar application. These findings are consistent with the results already obtained for the Tebano (T) vineyard. Different biochar production technologies were modelled to assess their potential for improving the GHG emission balance. Even basic technologies provided positive contributions, especially when two biochar applications were considered, while one application almost offset the total impact. Higher technological yields and efficiencies led to improvements, especially with Yanmar cogeneration, where advantages were associated with avoided impacts from energy production. Nevertheless, a large part of this improvement depends on avoided thermal energy production. This benefit can be achieved only if the thermal energy generated during biochar production is effectively used on site. Expanding the biomass collection radius reduced environmental performance because of additional transport, although the decrease remained limited. Finally, even the extreme scenario based on commercial pine wood instead of residual biomass remained positive from an environmental point of view. This comparison indicates that producing biochar and energy from wood can be preferable to simply burning it. However, it should not be interpreted as an optimal scenario, since the use of residual biomass remains more consistent with circular economy principles and with the environmental rationale of the Bio-C-Vite project.Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Serena Righi
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "Augusto Righi"
Coordinatore:
Università degli Studi di PADOVA(Italy)
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 50.299,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
12/10/2023
Data di fine:
28/02/2026
