Grapevine Trunk Diseases in BC

In the early 2000s, vineyard growers noticed a significant decline in grapevines, initially thought to be due to cold winter temperatures. Grapevines grew less and produced less, and parts of the vines died. In 2010, researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) set out to identify the cause and potential solutions.

After a 3-year research project, AAFC researchers determined the primary cause of the decline was grapevine trunk diseases – a group of diseases each caused by a different fungal species. The fungi infect grapevines through pruning wounds. Their spores land on the wounds and, in favourable environmental conditions, begin to grow. The fungi grow in plant tissues that transport water and nutrients (xylem and phloem), causing cankers and/or wood rot. The cankers interrupt the flow of water and nutrients, killing spurs, cordons, and/or the trunk and eventually killing the vine.

Solutions have been developed in other grape-growing regions worldwide and have been, or are being, tested in BC. Chemical and biological products to combat grapevine trunk diseases were not available in Canada until recently. Most of these solutions require more research, but current information is described below