Viticulture in Argentina under extreme weather scenarios: Actual challenges, future perspectives

Abstract

Viticulture in Argentina is an important socioeconomic sector, reflected in a significant wine market and tourism. However, climate change and related extreme events are serious concerns. The main issues are heatwaves, hailstorms, and heavy rainfall, resulting in damage to vineyards. While climate change impacts have already been discussed for regions such as the Mediterranean, the literature lacks an up-to-date overview of Argentine viticulture and potential mitigation solutions. In a country culturally and economically connected to the world of wine, it is strategic to bridge this gap to be prepared for a climatically adverse future. This perspective paper presents an overview of Argentine viticulture and its relationship to climate change. We focus on the Mendoza region, one of the most productive areas and home to cultural landscapes where internationally recognized wines are produced. Climate change is already occurring, a fact we observed by analyzing data from the past decades. We discussed how heatwaves in the lowlands drive farmers to move to the Andes slopes looking for more favorable conditions. But new threats arise, such as extreme rainfall. Due to surface hydrological processes, they can cause land degradation and compromise vineyards. We investigate these phenomena in detail, highlighting how they represent a growing challenge that must be addressed for the sustainable development of future viticulture in the area. Therefore, we propose mitigation strategies for more resilient production, drawing inspiration from the Sustainable Development Goals and suggesting a framework that can be extended to broader contexts worldwide.

Keywords

Viticulture / Wine / Climate change / Adaptation / Argentina / South America

Author contributions

P.T., N.C, C.S., and E.S. conceived and designed the research; E.S. wrote the first draft, and edited the manuscript and figures; E.S. and R.A. performed the data analysis; N.C. C.S. R.A. M.J.E.O. performed literature analysis, co-wrote sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and reviewed the manuscript; P.T. reviewed and edited the final version of the manuscript, and supervised the entire research project.

Declaration of Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

This study was partly supported by Secretary of Research, International and Postgraduate (SIIP) project type 4 biennial 2022: “Climate change observatory of extreme phenomena in irrigated viticulture, Mendoza, Argentina”. Project financed by the SIIP of the National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.

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