Vigneto Sicuro is a platform developed by an Abruzzo-based startup capable of predicting diseases and extreme weather events in vineyards.
Walking through a vineyard is a pleasure at any time of year, given that the vegetative cycle of the grapevine is a fascinating process — one worth admiring both with the first spring buds and blossoms, and with the autumn foliage and ripe clusters, ready for harvest.
While strolling among the vines, you might notice some particularly vivid colours: red, yellow, orange… these are the roses often planted at the beginning of each row, serving as true guardians of the vineyard. These flowers tend to show symptoms of disease and pest attack well before the vines do, helping wine growers monitor the health of their plants.
Today, thanks to technological advances, roses are no longer the only allies of wine growers. Vigneto Sicuro is a digital platform, developed by the Abruzzo-based startup Trace Technologies, capable of acquiring real-time data from vineyards and predicting the onset of potential diseases in advance, thanks to an algorithm that harnesses artificial intelligence to calculate the risk index at different points across plots shown on an interactive map.
Among the application's main advantages are the fact that it is intuitive and requires no installation of sensors or other devices in the field, that it guarantees an accuracy rate of 90–99 per cent, and that it is able to send timely, personalised notifications to the user via email and WhatsApp.
Among the diseases whose historical trends can be analysed and whose onset can be predicted are powdery mildew, a fungal disease that develops mainly in humid conditions with poor ventilation, coating shoots and clusters with a whitish-grey powder. And downy mildew, also caused by a fungus that produces yellow spots on leaves and deprives the plant of nutrients, preventing it from completing fruit development.
Alongside fungal threats, however, there are other dangers facing vineyards, starting with climate change. On one hand, rising global average temperatures are redrawing the geography of wine production, reducing productivity in areas that are too hot or drought-prone and unlocking the potential of regions once unsuitable for vine cultivation. On the other, it can accelerate bud development, making them vulnerable to frost, as well as speeding up cluster ripening, making it necessary to bring the harvest forward.
The climate crisis is fuelling increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events, from heatwaves to hailstorms and floods. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) estimates that, in 2024, global wine production reached its lowest level in sixty years, precisely due to "unpredictable and extreme" weather conditions caused by climate change.
This is why Vigneto Sicuro also provides a real-time weather forecasting system, based on data collected from multiple sources such as satellites, weather stations and climate models. Wine growers can constantly and accurately monitor parameters such as temperature, humidity and rainfall in millimetres, and are promptly alerted whenever an extreme event is forecast, so they can adopt appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures.
To meet the needs of every farmer, Vigneto Sicuro offers several subscription plans. The economic savings guaranteed by preventing damage caused by fungal and climate-related threats are complemented by those arising from the possibility of reducing the use of plant protection products, also to the benefit of human health and the environment. The application has been enthusiastically welcomed by the market, with over 6,000 registered wine growers and the interest of various investors and funds.
At this stage, the startup is working to develop new features in collaboration with companies and universities. This gives rise to an opportunity to help reduce the environmental impact of viticulture — still quite significant in terms of fungicide use — and to promote the transition to agroecology, enhancing soil health and biodiversity in wine-growing agroecosystems, and securing the future of a millennia-old art that is opening up ever more to innovation.
