Florea et al. (2025) The Impact of Climate Change on Eastern European Viticulture: A Review of Smart Irrigation and Water Management Strategies

Identification

• Journal: Horticulturae
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-24
• Authors: Alina Florea, Dorin Ioan Sumedrea, Steliana Rodino, Marian Ion, Vili Dragomir, Anamaria M. DUMITRU, Liliana Pîrcălabu, Daniel Grigorie Dinu
• DOI: 10.3390/horticulturae11111282

Research Groups

• National Research and Development Institute for Biotechnology in Horticulture, Stefanesti, Romania
• Research Institute for Agriculture Economy and Rural Development, Bucharest, Romania
• National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences, Bucharest, Romania
• Research and Development Institute for Viticulture and Enology, Valea Calugareasca, Romania

Short Summary

This review synthesizes the impacts of climate change on Eastern European viticulture, highlighting increased water stress and phenological shifts. It emphasizes the critical role of integrating climate adaptation measures with smart irrigation and water management strategies, such as Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI) and sensor-based systems, to enhance vineyard resilience and sustainability.

Objective

• To identify the main climatic challenges affecting grape production in Eastern Europe.
• To evaluate irrigation technologies that enhance vineyard sustainability.
• To highlight knowledge gaps and propose research directions to support climate adaptation in viticulture.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Eastern European viticultural regions, specifically Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Moldova.
• Temporal Scale: Literature review primarily focused on studies published between 2009 and 2024, with some analyses incorporating historical climate data spanning from 1951 to 2020.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Bibliometric analysis (VOSviewer), econometric and statistical modeling (multiple regression, panel data, time series, one-way ANOVA, Duncan and Tukey post hoc tests, Mann–Kendall trend tests), bioclimatic indices, water balance simulation models (e.g., WinISAREG), and crop coefficient methods (e.g., Blaney–Criddle formula).
• Data sources: Published scientific literature from the Web of Science (WoS) database, real-time monitoring data from smart agriculture technologies (soil moisture sensors, automated weather stations, remote sensing), and historical climate and phenological databases.

Main Results

• Climate change in Eastern Europe is characterized by rising temperatures (e.g., 0.2 °C to 0.4 °C increase in Romania, 1.5 °C in Hungary), irregular precipitation, and increased drought frequency, leading to significant water stress in vineyards.
• Observed phenological shifts include earlier budburst, flowering, veraison, and harvest (e.g., 1 to 2 weeks earlier for budding/flowering, 2 to 3 weeks for ripening in Romania), altering grape sugar-acid balance and polyphenolic composition.
• Smart irrigation strategies, particularly Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI), are crucial for mitigating water stress, optimizing vine physiology, and improving grape quality and yield, demonstrating water savings of 15% to 35%.
• Smart agriculture technologies, including soil moisture sensors, automated weather stations, and computerized irrigation systems, enable precise water management, leading to improved water use efficiency (e.g., up to 20% water reduction in Moldova without yield loss).
• Climate warming is expanding viticultural suitability to more northern latitudes and higher altitudes in countries like Poland and Hungary, but simultaneously increases crop water requirements, necessitating supplemental irrigation.

Contributions

• Provides a comprehensive synthesis of the observed impacts of climate change on viticulture across Eastern Europe.
• Systematically evaluates the effectiveness of smart irrigation and water management strategies, such as RDI and sensor-based systems, as adaptive measures in the region.
• Highlights the critical necessity of integrating climate adaptation with intelligent irrigation for enhancing vineyard resilience and sustainability.
• Identifies specific regional climate trends and their implications for grape phenology, quality, and yield in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Moldova.
• Proposes future research directions and emphasizes the role of smart agriculture policies and technologies in ensuring food security and rural development in the context of climate change.

Funding

• Project financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development—Romania, Project Ader 6.5.3/2023.
• ADER Project 6.5.3/2023.

Citation

@article{Florea2025Impact,
  author = {Florea, Alina and Sumedrea, Dorin Ioan and Rodino, Steliana and Ion, Marian and Dragomir, Vili and DUMITRU, Anamaria M. and Pîrcălabu, Liliana and Dinu, Daniel Grigorie},
  title = {The Impact of Climate Change on Eastern European Viticulture: A Review of Smart Irrigation and Water Management Strategies},
  journal = {Horticulturae},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/horticulturae11111282},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11111282}
}

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