An Integrated Digital Tool for the Choice of Vine Rootstocks

Rootstock selection is a key component of sustainable vineyard planning, as it determines the vine’s capacity to adapt to soil properties and environmental constraints. This study presents Vitis, a modular, microservice‑based Decision Support System (DSS) designed to assist winegrowers and professionals in identifying the most suitable grapevine rootstocks for specific pedoclimatic conditions. The rootstock module (SR‑Vitis) integrates a process‑based model that evaluates 17 widely used European rootstocks by considering soil and site characteristics, including effective rooting depth, texture, coarse fragments, salinity, pH, active calcium carbonate, potential fertility, and risks of waterlogging and water deficit. Input data can be entered manually or retrieved automatically from a georeferenced database through geographic coordinates. The system outputs a list of rootstocks compatible with the given soil and environmental context and provides the user with an automatic report in PDF format. The model was applied to four vineyards located in two contrasting Italian winegrowing regions, Chianti Classico (Tuscany) and Alta Murgia (Apulia), revealing strong agreement between DSS recommendations and rootstocks currently adopted by growers, while also identifying cases where alternative choices could reduce agronomic risk. These results demonstrate the potential of SR‑Vitis as an objective and practical tool for enhancing vineyard design, improving decision-making, and supporting viticultural resilience under increasingly variable climatic conditions.