Abstract
The Southern part of France is well known for the making of wine whose history has been for more than 2600 years. It was introduced by the Romans through viticulture, the cultivation of grape vines. Since then the wine manufacture in France has triumphed due to its demand among the Dutch as well as the English people. Before the revolution in France, the Catholic had the biggest vineyard influencing Rhone and Champagne among others areas in the south. There was the Carolingian regime that enabled wine farmers to liaise with those that possessed land for vineyards. Based on the Carolingian, a farmer could plant vine for a particular time after which half of the planted farm was given back to the owner. With this regime in France, much land was under vine that produced wine. Determined by both the international and local factors, the wine industry in France has greatly developed over the years creating a basis for benchmarking from other nations. Wine from France has been enjoying the advantages that come with the global market. Movement of bulky vine from the place of cultivation became expensive and therefore navigable water bodies were used as a means of transportation. The areas where the navigable rivers passed formed trade areas, within and outside France. This played a major role to link France and other European countries including the US. Immediately after the revolution in France, a low quality of wine was widely recorded leading to an investigation into the matter. The investigation involved getting botanical species from various parts of the world and carrying research on them. It turned out that the grapevines got diseases especially those imported from North America. They contained an aphid called phylloxera vastatrix widely referred to as grape phylloxera that attacked the rootstock, a vine cultivated in North America. The Grape Phylloxera (Daktulosphaira Vitifoliae) forms the basis for this research paper. It will look into the economic problems caused by the aphid and how scientific attempts were made to resolve the situation.
Introduction
The Grape phylloxera got into Europe particularly North America by misfortune around the year 1850 leading to the negative economic performance of the viticulture in the European countries. According to Thomas (1987), it started from the North America before spreading to other countries lie like Australia and France (pg.171). Aphid was badly experienced in France as from the beginning of the 1862. This was not only a new threat to the wine industry but a mysterious grape vines problem. It significantly impacted on the vineyards available in France. The problem was globally spread to all viticulture areas. It still remains a major challenge today.
Looking into the history of grape vines in the US where phylloxera is ought to have originated, we find out how the grape pest came to exist. Among the first settlers in the US, there are those that attempted to grow grape vines with a hope of reaping high production. They tried out planting vinifera vines relying on the observations made about the success of grown native vines. The vinifera vine is the source of the grape aphid phylloxera. They put many resources into its growth as well as effort hoping for much reaps from their vineyards. However, all their resources and efforts were in vain. They resulted into a big failure. It is only the native vines that successfully persisted and sailed through the climate and pests.
The people of America had to find out a solution the failure of the vinifera vines. Scientists came up with the rootstock idea which they believed would resist the natural aphis that caused the initial failure. It worked to their expectation and the situation started to change. Majority of the modern vineyards embraced the rootstocks including Missouri which was leading the establishment of rootstocks that revived the ruined French vineyards. That is how the rootstocks finally penetrated the vineyards in France unaware of the danger lurking in the wine making industry. “The period 1873 to 1876 saw the highest archive of activities taking place through the transportation of the rootstocks to France from Missouri. “ (Thomas, 1987)
Majority of the French growers appreciated the rootstocks for vinifera that they obtained from the Missouri. According to Pinney (1968), the US species however were not persistent in their ability to resist the grape phylloxera, but they had differing impacts depending on the conditions they were exposed to. The soils in France were chalky and they coped well with the grafting from America. The planting of the species from America went on well until the late times of the 18th century when a phylloxera epidemic explored in the world vineyards but most significantly it France. A lot vine yards were greatly destroyed as a result.
The grape phylloxera also referred to as Daktulosphaira Vitifoliae was an aphid attacking commercial grapevines around the world. It is described as to have started in the eastern part of North America. The aphid fed on the roots as well as the leaves of the grapevines deforming and infecting them with fungi. The deformations stopped the flow of water and nutrients from the soil to the grapevines. Consequently, low quality vines were produced, largely affecting the wine making industry in France since it depended on the American species.
Economic problems
The pylloxera has really impacted negatively to the France wine industry and the viticulture industry as a whole. It caused a loss of 80 percent of the vineyards in France over a period of more than ten years. The grape phylloxera so cuts in wages up to a half of the initial pay, the businesses that that traded wine significantly failed. People from France started to move out to other countries like the US as well as Algiers fearing hard economic times. For those that opted to stay, they underwent a difficult recession time particularly to the small scale growers of the wine. This is because for the smaller wine farmers, it was a challenge to indulge chemicals to treat the aphid considering the financial requirements. In addition to threat the grapes it needed manpower and this was a further push into the pocket. This pushed majority of such farmers to emigrate out of France for better favorable environments for their activities.
According to Bruyn (2007), the government promised a 32 000 francs present to anyone who came up with a cure to the problem. Although the prize was later withdrawn, it reflected just how much the disease impacted on the economy of France. Grape phylloxera attack to the French vineyards saw the country’s loss of the larger market it enjoyed. The Dutch people as well as the British were on the receiving end of the advantages of the sufferings of the wine industry in France. They initially dominated the two markets in exportation of wine. From history, wine produced within Britain was not enough for its consumers and therefore the failure of France dictated the Great Britain to pursue other markets. The infected French wine development was closely being followed up by Zeeland and Holland. The two developed technology regarding the manufacture of wine through the use of new methods. The two Dutch countries therefore stepped to take advantage of the plagued wine from France.
The disease to the grapes became a really challenge in France. From farmers to researchers, they did everything to see that the aphid was eliminated. For instance the growers were quick to make desperate moves. They used to bury toads that were alive in the soil within the underneath of every grape so that they could consume and get out they phylloxera. Places that depicted dry conditions were less attacked by the phylloxera plague. This saw growers shift to such areas although eventually all parts of the country were affected. Growers used all used various chemicals to kill the phylloxera plague but to no avail. Research centers were put on alert and they began gathering information to curb the situation through research using the collected data. There two main solutions put forward to solve the wine situation: the first was the use grafts on resistant rootstocks and the second was Hybridization.
Graft cuttings on rootstocks
The most preferred solution was the one that Charles Rilley in association with Planchon came up with. It was further encouraged by T.V. Munson. A resistant vine called the rootstock. It entailed grafting of a Vitis vinifera to the roots of the resistant. The method was one of the best because less interfered with the growth of the grapes. In the year 1870 was when Riley assured the use rootstocks. He was crowned to have really achieved until there was reaction from the use of the method. The reactions claimed that it was the aphids that caused the problem and not the source. To add up to the list of challenges to the theory, the lifecycle of the grape phylloxera was complex and hence posed a challenge to researching on it. The lifecycle of the Phylloxera in America was far away different from the one found in the European countries. This grafting method was really opposed by many people who had no other method to destroy the aphid. They unwillingly embraced it with pending cure to the phylloxera.
The period 1960 to 1980 saw many farmers of vine use the rootstock even if it had failed in many parts of the tested areas (cited in Kingston and Powell, 2009). Even if the phylloxera could feed effectively on the roots (AxR1), after period 1960-180 experienced mutations as well as selective pressures among the phylloxera that countered the rootstock. Hence most of the grape vines grown using the AxR1 roots totally failed to give the desired results. However, this was even more complex with the transmitting of the grape aphid. It was practically emphasized by the go through of F1 hybrid between berlandieri and vinifera and also 41B. The use of the rootstock also posed a motion on which gives the best outcome between the grapes that rooted by themselves and the ones that were grafted. However, grafts on the rootstock have been broadly used in various parts that have vine yards in Europe including France. Reagarding that some areas have failed, it is therefore fails to tell if the really cure for the aphid has been found. To the present it is still not clear on the effective solution to the phylloxera grape aphid.
Hybridization
As the 19th century was winding up, another solution was presented by researchers. The solution was hybridization. It got very popular base for doing research to destroy the wine killer aphid. The process involved breeding. The Vitis vinera was hence bread with more resistant species.majority of the grape vine that France imported from the US had phylloxera that was by nature resistant. They included: riparia, aestivalis and rupestris. Unlike the resistant ones, we had the less resistant species that among them the labrusa. Labrusa had sweet smell that was used to keep away palates linked to the grapes that originated from Europe.
According to Campell (2005), the major aim of the cross breeding of the various species was to develop a very resistant vine that no phylloxera would attack. This hybrid out of the cross breeding had a disadvantage processed wine that tasted differently from the American grape. To the contrary, the outcome of the hybrids was not that much expected resistant. They were more responsive the climate and other diseases other than the phylloxera. The above misgivings of the hybrids, greatly contributed to the fact that he traditional ones were still preferred over new hybrids. In fact within the euro zone the hybrids are very much discouraged from use and have been banned in most countries of the European Union. Despite the bans and discouragement, they are in broad use for those people that compromise quality.
The Assyrtiko graoe has turned out to be the only native grape that is resistant to the deadly phylloxera aphid. It breeds in the Santorini Island which is volcanic. To effectively deal with this phylloxera problem, most growers prefer growing their vines on sandy soil which provides conditions that do not favor the aphid. The sand areas are mostly windy and sunny on top of the sandy conditions. These three combined destroy the habitat fit for phylloxera to have a life. Similarly, the Romans developed and constructed the canal irrigation that provide unfavorable environment for the phylloxera. Winter flooding was also a solution to the aphid problem in the Tarascon.
Referring back to the aphid problem this research paper covers, there are grape types that managed through the phylloxera aphid. These vines were not grafted but they were produced and used to make good and desired tasting wine which was very expensive (Cited in Pinney, 2007). The name of one of the rare species was Nacional. There is no researcher nor has a scientist come up with an explanation on the nature of the species to resist phylloxera. Another similar species was the Montalcino. All this vines that survive through phylloxera are in small scale. On a very narrow consideration one would have recommended it as a remedy for the phylloxera. Growers of vine should turn to the grape vines to solve out the phylloxera problem that exists to date.
Conclusion
The Grape Phylloxera (Daktulosphaira Vitifoliae) was a major problem to the wine industry in France. Today the phylloxera aphid still remains a major threat to the survival of the grape vines species planted. The implications of the grape aphid have implicated difficulty economics times in france, a major wine manufacturer. Growers have experienced wage cuts, business have failed while the general economy has failed. The problems implicated by the grape phylloxera pushed for desperate measures by growers and also provoked research by scientists. Scientists came up with theories although they have not been effective. Between the two major solutions; grafts on rootstocks and hybridization, the first one has been widely applied. However to date there is no any effective solution to the grape phylloxera problem. This makes the problem open to further research on the Grape Phylloxera, a destructive vine pest.
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