Viticultural Engineering and Mechanization | Luis Hidalgo Fernández-Cano, Jose Hidalgo Togores

If the engineering and mechanization of viticulture have always been interesting, as a result of the application of new technologies, increased production costs, and the difficulty of finding qualified labor, the announced restructuring of the Spanish vineyards, recently approved within the new "Common Organization of the Market of Vine and Wine" of the European Union, with a clear commitment to improving quality, make this Treaty of the utmost interest and relevance.

In Spain, vine cultivation occupies a prominent place within its agricultural structure, both economically and socially, being surpassed only by cereals and olive trees, ranking internationally first among all countries in wine production, with an area representing 15% of the total dedicated to this crop and 23% of that belonging to Europe.

This work complements the "General Viticulture Treaty" published by the same Editorial and whose author is the first of this, expanding on aspects of viticultural machinery and agronomic engineering applicable to all tasks related to vine cultivation.