Alternate-Row Vineyard Grassing: a Sustainable and Innovative Management Technique

Vineyard grassing, also known as living mulching, is an increasingly adopted technique for the sustainable management of vineyard soils.

It involves maintaining a grassy cover—spontaneous or sown—on the soil, managed through mowing operations as an alternative to complete soil tillage and full-field herbicidal weeding.

This grassy cover protects the soil from the direct action of atmospheric agents that promote erosion and fertility loss, and from frequent tillage operations that cause compaction beneath the worked layer and the formation of the “plow sole.”

Besides full grassing, a more effective approach exists: alternate-row grassing, which provides greater balance by ensuring healthy soil and optimal yield for the vines.

In this context, Sicma’s Vignamatic emerges as a versatile inter-row and under-row cultivator, capable of facilitating the practice of partial or alternate grassing and improving vineyard management.

Vineyard Grassing: What It Is and Why It Pays Off

Grassing is a practice consisting of allowing spontaneous or sown grasses to grow freely between the rows, avoiding soil tillage and weeding operations.

The benefits of inter-row grassing are numerous:

• • Erosion reduction: the grassy cover protects the soil, lowering the risk of erosion, especially on slopes.

• Improved water retention: grassing helps maintain soil moisture, reducing irrigation needs, especially during the hottest months.
• Increased biodiversity: maintaining a grassy cover creates an ideal habitat for insects and microorganisms beneficial to the vineyard ecosystem.
• Soil fertility: grassed soil enriches the ground with organic matter, improving its structure and making it healthier and more fertile over time.

Observing a few simple guidelines ensures satisfactory results

• Assess your site: start with an evaluation of soil characteristics, average precipitation in the area, and the specific needs of the crop.
• Initial care: plan for higher water and nitrogen inputs during the early stages to avoid stressing the vines.
• Summer mowing: in spring–summer or during high-drought risk periods, mow more frequently so the grass does not grow excessively tall and compete for nutrients.
• Watch for competition: in particular conditions, such as on poor soils and in areas at high drought risk, maintaining a continuous grass cover can cause excessive competition with vines for nutrients and water uptake.

Alternate-Row Grassing: the Sustainable Solution for Vineyards

Alternate-row grassing is a technique that balances the benefits of a grassy cover with the needs of the vines.

This approach involves leaving one row grassed while the next is tilled, alternating the cover between rows.

In this way, many of the benefits of grassed soil management are retained, while minimizing competition between the grass cover and the vines.

This method offers unique advantages:

Defends the soil against erosion, especially on hilly terrain where the grassed row holds the soil, preventing landslides and slips.

Regulates water retention in summer, as the grassed area forms an insulating layer that limits evaporation, while the tilled ground absorbs more water during rain events.

Fosters biological balance, as the grassy cover creates a habitat in which insects and microorganisms contribute to ecosystem health and nutrient availability.

Enriches the soil with organic matter, making it naturally more fertile.

Improves soil structure by preventing compaction and imparting greater porosity and load-bearing capacity.

Improves soil aeration: grassed soil promotes adequate oxygenation, essential for the health of vine roots.

Facilitates vehicle passage, especially after rain.

Enables targeted grass sowing, allowing selected species to keep weeds under control and eliminating the need for chemical herbicides.

In winter, grassy soil retains more water, preventing erosion; in summer the grass reduces evaporation.

Sicma’s Vignamatic: the Ideal Solution for Inter-Row Grassing

For winegrowers who wish to adopt the alternate-row grassing technique, Sicma has developed the Vignamatic, an innovative cultivator designed to make soil management simpler and more effective.

The Vignamatic enhances between-row operations by enabling multiple tasks to be performed simultaneously, combining partial-row cultivation with sub-row treatments:

Centrally equipped with staggered ploughshares that work the inter-row space to a depth of approximately 10–15 cm, effectively tilling and mixing soils of varying consistency and incorporating organic matter;

Hydraulically driven side heads for sub-row working, with adjustable width to fit the vineyard’s dimensions. Smart Group tool configuration that varies according to the operations to be performed—blade kit, power harrow kit, hoeing kit and sucker-removal group;

Independent movement of both the central ploughshares and the sub-row tools, providing the operator with extensive flexibility.

But the feature that makes this machine the perfect solution for those practicing the alternate-row grassing technique is the ability to omit the central ploughshares via a dedicated hydraulic system, without lifting the entire frame.

Specifically, on rows to be cultivated, the machine can be used with all operational tools: in this configuration, the Vignamatic acts as a combined cultivator that simultaneously works the inter-row soil with the central ploughshares and the under-row area with the lateral tools.

On the next row, the one to remain grassed, simply lift the central ploughshares to resume working the inter-row soil, since the frame remains in its original position.

The independent hydraulic lifting mechanism for the ploughshares keeps the machine’s center of gravity low, promoting stability of the machine-tractor system—essential in sloping vineyards.

Moreover, the entire frame (including the roller) can be lifted and made compact to facilitate maneuverability without increasing height clearance, useful in tight row-spacing.

Main Features of the Vignamatic

The wide range of configuration options makes the Vignamatic usable year-round, adaptable to the type of work, the season and varying soil consistencies.

The versatility of the Vignamatic enables customizable vineyard management, adapting to different soil-working needs and climatic conditions.

Alternate Inter-Row Cultivation

Thanks to a hydraulic lifting system, Vignamatic allows selective operation on only the desired rows, keeping grassing on the others.

Adjustable Depth

The staggered central ploughshares, whose ground-working intensity can be regulated, till the soil to depths of up to 15 cm, incorporating nutrients to enhance soil structure.

Adjustable Sub-Row Tools

The lateral hydraulic heads enable mechanical weeding of under-vine weeds without damaging the roots, avoiding chemical herbicides and contributing to biological soil conservation.

Anti-Shock Protection

Equipped with an anti-shock system that preserves the integrity of the central anchors in case of accidental impacts, the Vignamatic is built to withstand rough and sloping terrain, safeguarding the machine’s integrity.

The versatility of the Vignamatic enables customizable vineyard management, adapting to different soil-working needs and climatic conditions.

Vignamatic, the Perfect Cultivator for Vineyard Grassing

Sicma’s mission is to develop modern and innovative machinery to meet the needs of customers who use their machines in the field every day.

Presented at industry events, the Vignamatic has received recognition for its innovation and contribution to sustainable viticulture:

“Novità Tecniche” nomination at EIMA 2022 for the ability to raise the central ploughshares—excluding them from soil cultivation without lifting the entire frame when the inter-row area need not be worked. This innovation enhances flexibility and represents a significant advantage for those adopting alternate-row grassing.

“New Technology” award in the Innovation Challenge Enovitis 2023, praised as “the Vignamatic cultivator successfully combines mechanical weeding in the inter-row and sub-row spaces in a single pass, also proving versatile in situations of alternating management of tilled and grassed rows.”

These accolades confirm the value of the Vignamatic, which, thanks to its versatility, meets the needs of winegrowers seeking efficient, multi-task soil management.

Adopting the alternate-row grassing technique is a strategic choice for maintaining healthy, productive soils.

With the support of our Vignamatic, winegrowers can achieve optimal inter-row cultivation, conditioning the soil to maximize yield and ensure balanced vine growth.

Moreover, this cultivator enables sustainable soil work, reducing environmental impact and answering the needs of those seeking an ecological and cutting-edge approach.

Contact us to learn more about how Vignamatic can transform the management of your vineyard.