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OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

This main objective can be divided intro 4 sub-objectives : 


1

Reduce the use of fungicides in vineyards in 3 countries by at least 50% in order to limit the impact on the environment and health

The LIFEisLIGHT project will demonstrate the effectiveness of UV-C technology in protecting vines against powdery mildew and downy mildew, two major fungi that threaten European vines. By reducing the use of fungicide treatments, biodiversity and the environment will be under less pressure from toxic chemicals. In addition, the use of physical methods, namely UV-C flashes, will enable the effects to be concentrated on the crops alone, thereby protecting the health of workers.

2

Optimising UV-C sources to reduce energy consumption by 20%

 

UV-C production requires a lot of energy and therefore has a significant environmental impact. LIFEisLIGHT will test innovative solutions with low energy consumption and adapt the most promising to the UVB machine.

3

Improving our knowledge of how plants react to UV-C, for more precise treatment of vines

By gaining a deeper understanding of the biological phenomena behind UV-induced plant resistance to fungi, the use of the machine with UV-C sources optimised for vineyard treatment will be adapted and specified to the conditions of the demonstration in order to ensure that the targeted efficacy is achieved in an acceptable number of treatments (thus reducing the impact on the soil due to the passage of the machine, fuel consumption and eqCO2 emissions).

4

Equipping at least 15 commercial wineries (5 in France, 5 in Spain and 5 in Italy) with industrialised LIFEisLIGHT prototypes

The optimised and industrialised prototypes will be demonstrated on 15 commercial farms, involving collaborative work between the project partners and improving the knowledge and skills of winegrowers for more sustainable practices. The participation of professionals is essential for greater acceptance of the technology, and TORRES will support this approach by involving its farmers.

 

 

Why LIFEisLIGHT? The project, funded by the European Commission, aims to demonstrate the environmental and socio-economic performance of a breakthrough technology for plant protection: UV Boosting technology.

Stimulating plants’ natural defences is a method that can be used to reduce the use of plant protection products. This method is currently mainly based on chemical stimulators and is still underdeveloped because it involves complex and poorly understood processes in plants. However, an innovative solution using physical stimulation by UV-C light/flashes could be an opportunity: this solution developed by UVB has been tested on a small and medium scale since 2018 in France and has proved highly effective in reducing the use of fungicides in pilot vineyards (-50%). This solution needs to be improved and demonstrated under a variety of growing conditions, and UV-C generation needs to be further developed to make it accessible to farmers and pave the way for more sustainable agriculture.

The aim is to demonstrate the environmental, economic and social performance of UV Boosting technology in protecting vines against fungal attacks in three European Union countries, and more specifically in the Mediterranean arc: France, Spain and Italy.