EU-supported Online Vineyard Pruning Video Tutorial for Viticulturalists Now Available in Georgian

Through the support of the European Union, the educational videos have been translated due to an initiative from FAO. Led by a Spanish expert, Julio Prieto Diaz, the educational program teaches modern agricultural techniques that increase the yield and quality of vine grapes and wine. Through the support of the European Union (EU), FAO is working with Georgian viticulturalists and wine producers with a focus on improving the production and competitiveness of their industry in and outside of the Georgian market.

Georgian viticulturalists interested in accessing the online video course should contact FAO in Georgia by sending a message to the Organization’s Facebook page.

With nearly ten hours of video content, viticulturalists in Georgia can now learn from an experienced international expert. Mr. Prieto Diaz narrates the video tutorials and elaborates on the advanced various pruning techniques through actual examples in the field.

The educational video series is divided into five modules:

1)      Respect pruning in vineyards

2)      Goblet pruning

3)      Cordon royat pruning

4)      Vertical axis pruning

5)      Guyot pruning

Pruning is essential in ensuring a vineyard is healthy, resilient, and productive. When implemented correctly, it makes the plants more robust to varying climatic conditions and diseases; as a result of consistent pruning, vineyard productivity and quality of harvest increases.

Through the support of the EU, FAO has hosted Mr. Prieto Diaz in Georgia several times. He has trained more than 220 representatives of Georgian wine companies on pruning and internationally acknowledged methodologies for wine production. Mr. Prieto Diaz is also working on EU-supported FAO's Mating Disruption Programme, which helps 15 wine-producing companies advance their Integrated Pest Management practices with a focus on the control of the European grapevine moth – Lobesia botrana, responsible for the loss of up to a 40% of the harvest every year in Georgia.

„Through the continued, impactful partnership with the EU, FAO has been providing support to Georgia’s viticulture industry from sapling to market. Georgia has an impressively old and rich tradition of winemaking, and we are building on it to train the next generation of viticulturists who will place Georgian wines at the top of winemaking worldwide. And to reach this, the respect and care for the vines, the reduced use of pesticides and the use of endemic varieties will be key. We partner with Julio Prieto, a top Spanish expert in respect viticulture, to teach proper pruning techniques and explain that you can hardly produce good wine, if you don’t take care properly of your vine plants. In short, bad pruning is very expensive. Julio’s online educational programme is an opportunity for all motivated viticulturists in the country that will drive Georgia, the cradle of wine, to the top level,” says the FAO Programme Coordinator, Javier Sanz Alvarez.

“Sharing knowledge is an important step toward improving the production efforts of Georgian viticulturalists and winemakers. The ten-hour video series can become a great tool for professionals who want to ensure that the country’s wine industry is resilient toward climate change, diseases, and pests while also improving the quality of the final product. Under the EU4Business initiative, the EU, in partnership with FAO, has supported the private sector in improving its access to international knowledge. The video series made available to Georgian audiences is a great example of the continued support that the EU and FAO have provided the country’s viticulturalists and winemakers with,” says Catalin Gherman, Deputy Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.

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The online video tutorials on respect pruning have been made available in the Georgian language through the technical assistance of FAO and funded by the EU under the EU4Business initiative - EU Innovative Action for Private Sector Competitiveness in Georgia. The Programme aims to assist Georgian entrepreneurs in improving the legal environment and access to finance while strengthening ties with the European Union.