Terra & Tech Stories #3: Vigneto Sicuro and plant health monitoring

Field trials are currently underway in several regions of Italy for Terra & Tech, the national open innovation program for the viticulture sector launched in recent years by the association Filiera Futura in collaboration with the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino (I3P). The initiative has facilitated collaboration between innovative start-ups and Italian wine producers, with the aim of promoting technology transfer in the sector through the implementation of new advanced solutions for vineyards, wineries, and wine marketing.

In the region of Piedmont, and more precisely in the province of Cuneo, the young innovative company Trace Technologies has conducted an advanced trial of its digital platform Vigneto Sicuro on the vineyards of wine producers Ettore Germano and Rosanna Sandri. The field trial was designed to optimize pest and disease management in vineyards, with a particular focus on preventing fungal diseases such as downy mildew and powdery mildew.

The meeting between the parties was made possible by the support of Fondazione CRC, one of the six Foundations of Banking Origin associated with Filiera Futura that have supported the Terra & Tech program since its inception, actively involving their networks of member producers.

Testing the process

Vigneto Sicuro, the solution developed by Trace Technologies, combines agro-meteorological forecasting models and satellite radar weather data to help winemakers make day-to-day operational decisions.

The project involved the use of digital tools for the continuous monitoring of weather conditions and pathogen development, supplemented by early warning systems and easily interpretable risk indicators. This approach made it possible to schedule treatments in a more targeted manner, reducing unnecessary interventions and improving the effectiveness of pest control strategies in both conventional and organic farming systems.

The innovative aspect of the pilot project conducted in the Cuneo area lies in the fact that Vigneto Sicuro is a solution that goes beyond physical infrastructure, as it does not require the installation of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors in the vineyard. This type of technology can assist all types of wine producers, both large and small, since there is no need to incur potentially significant costs for installing physical devices on the land or in the vineyards.

The results of the collaboration

Following the pilot implementation of Vigneto Sicuro at the two agricultural businesses, the results showed that interventions were carried out more promptly during periods of actual infection risk, along with an overall improvement in operational efficiency. At the same time, there has been an increase in decision-making awareness among farm workers, yielding benefits in both economic and environmental terms.

The trial has thus confirmed the value of adopting advanced digital tools in the wine-growing sector and paved the way for an increasingly sustainable, precise, and data-driven management model. The next steps for Vigneto Sicuro will involve adding new diseases, such as botrytis and the vine moth, and developing a water stress index; through this index, the winegrower will be able to know in advance how much and when to irrigate each individual field, thereby significantly optimizing irrigation practices.

“Thanks to Terra & Tech, we had the opportunity to connect with and support producers Ettore Germano and Rosanna Sandri in developing a data-driven approach to vineyard pest and disease management, helping them make timely and effective decisions against downy mildew and powdery mildew,” said Carlo Capretta, Co-Founder of Vigneto Sicuro. “Through our platform, we aim to help reduce unnecessary treatments, optimize costs, and improve the sustainability of agronomic practices, while maintaining high production quality. Vigneto Sicuro helps build a more modern and efficient viticultural model, in which weather data, predictive models, and continuous monitoring become concrete tools for increasing profitability and safety. This evolution demonstrates how much the wine sector can grow when technology and agronomic expertise work together.”

“Since launching this pilot program, through the Vigneto Sicuro platform we have been able to monitor the entire vineyard in detail and keep the risk of major fungal infections under control,” commented Elia Germano, legal representative of Ettore Germano. “The alerts we receive directly on the app allow us to intervene promptly and optimize treatment management. Since our goal is to minimize interventions in the vineyard as much as possible, the platform’s support enables us to extend the intervals between treatments – even beyond what is normally recommended for pesticides – without detecting any symptoms or damage to leaves and grape clusters.”

“Thanks to our collaboration with I3P, this project has provided an opportunity to test advanced technological solutions directly in the field, with the full involvement of local farms,” concluded Mauro Gola, President of Fondazione CRC. “The goal is to offer innovative solutions capable of promoting agricultural and food excellence and contributing to maintaining the competitiveness of our farms, in a global landscape characterized by particularly demanding challenges for the agricultural sector.”