Grapevines are the second largest fruit crop in British Columbia with a cultivated area of over 10,000 acres and a farm gate value of over $35 million CAD. Future economic sustainability depends on the production of high quality wines, and negative impacts on fruit yield and quality are of particular concern to the BC wine industry. Growers face two significant challenges: producing award winning wines under BC’s short-season growing conditions and winter temperatures occasionally dropping below -20°C, causing serious injury to Vitis vinifera. These challenges have long been associated with grapevine decline, yield losses and poor fruit quality. As a result, grapevine trunk diseases have long been overlooked in BC as one of the factors contributing to grapevine dieback and consequent plant mortality.
Since the mid-2000s, a significant decline in young plants and reduction in productivity have been observed throughout vineyards in BC. Therefore, development and implementation of effective control strategies are the focus of this research, along with assisting grapevine nurseries in identifying primary inoculum sources throughout the different steps of the grapevine propagation process. These studies will help on the development and implementation of an effective integrated management strategy against GTD at the nursery level.
