An information kit for wine, table and dried grape growers.
What is Environmental Best Practice?
Environmental best practice is growing grapes: to achieve production goals (quality and quantity);
with minimal impact on the environment;
using the best available knowledge;
whilst maintaining economic viability.
Why Adopt Environmental Best Practice?
The major reasons for adopting environmental best practice are:
to improve the sustainability of the vineyard and the viticultural industries by maintaining or enhancing the quality of the environment and natural resources necessary for the production of grapes;
to improve the long-term economical sustainability of the vineyard by reducing the inputs (eg fertilisers, chemicals, and fuel) required to produce grapes;
to protect the environment and it’s natural resources;
to ensure access to desirable markets (in particular those markets with high environmental standards);
to meet industry, community and government environmental expectations.
Definition of Environmental Performance
Environmental performance relates to the degree of impact on the environment. High performance = low negative impact on the environment, and Low performance = high negative impact on the environment.
How to Improve Environmental Performance
To assist grape growers to adopt environmental best practices and improve their environmental performance the following have been developed:
The regional code of environmental best practice for viticulture is voluntary and has been developed to assist growers to improve their environmental performance. The regional code is a reference document intended to be used by growers to assist with the adoption of environmental best practices.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the below documents. A free copy can be downloaded from Adobe Acrobat (external link).
Code of Environmental Best Practice for Viticulture - Sunraysia Region: Summary
The Sunraysia regional code is a voluntary code targeted at grape growers and vineyard managers. The code covers the three viticultural industries in the Sunraysia Region: Dried grapes, Wine grapes, Table grapes.
Code of Environmental Best Practice for Viticulture - Sunraysia Region: Volume 1
(PDF 1.2M)
Full Document
(PDF 149kb)
Native Vegetation Management
(PDF 194kb)
Introduction
(PDF 134kb)
Waste Management
(PDF 185kb)
Environmental Impacts
(PDF 107kb)
Biosecurity
(PDF 179kb)
Irrigation Management
(PDF 108kb)
Machinery
(PDF 120kb)
Nutrition
(PDF 50kb)
Harvesting - Wine grapes
(PDF 120kb)
Pest & Disease Management
(PDF 52kb)
Harvesting - Dried grapes
(PDF 129kb)
Vineyard Floor Management
(PDF 63kb)
Harvesting - Table grapes
(PDF 86kb)
Vineyard Development
(PDF 51kb)
Glossary of Terms
Code of Environmental Best Practice for Viticulture - Sunraysia Region: Volume 2
Code of Environmental Best Practice for Viticulture
Sunraysia Region - Vol 2 Part One
(PDF 1.4M)
Code of Environmental Best Practice for Viticulture
Sunraysia Region - Vol 2 Part Two
(PDF 1.0M)
Full Document in two parts
(PDF 149kb)
Vineyard Development Legislation
(PDF 441kb)
Introduction
(PDF 183kb)
Native Vegetation Legislation
(PDF 243kb)
User Guide
(PDF 151kb)
Waste Management Legislation
(PDF 238 kb)
Key Environmental Legislation
(PDF 303kb)
Biosecurity Legislation
(PDF 356kb)
Irrigation Legislation
(PDF 156kb)
Machinery Operation Legislation
(PDF 119kb)
Nutritional Legislation
(PDF 56kb)
Harvesting Legislation
(PDF 454kb)
Pest & Disease Legislation
(PDF 106kb)
Appendices
(PDF 313kb)
Vineyard Floor Legislation
Environmental Self-assessments
Environmental self-assessments have been developed to:
encourage growers to consider their environmental performance when making decisions about vineyard practices;
provide a rating system to enable growers to evaluate their current environmental performance;
enable growers to identify areas for environmental improvement within their vineyard management practices.
Environmental self-assessments have been developed for:
irrigation;
vineyard floor management;
nutrition;
pest and disease management;
biosecurity;
other practices.
Environmental Self-Assessments for Viticulture – Sunraysia Region
(PDF 204kb)
Contacts
For further information about environmental best practice for viticulture or to obtain your Environmental Best Practice CD-ROM, contact:
Sunraysia
Sue McConnell
Primary Industries Research Victoria
Department of Primary Industries
PO Box 905, Mildura, Victoria 3502
