LAUSR

Late frosts are one of the major impact factors on agriculture worldwide with large economic losses for agricultural crops, with a significant impact also in wine production. Given the importance of the wine sector in the world, more and more efforts are being made to identify innovative techniques capable of creating a low-cost and effective protection for vine shoots, as well as reducing energy consumption. In a previous work, cotton candy was identified as an insulating material to solve the problems related to late frosts on vineyards and limit its damages as much as possible. From the results of the previous research, it has proved that cotton candy is an excellent thermal insulator, but it degrades quickly in windy conditions. Thus, climatic tests carried out in windy condition showed that straw can greatly slow down the degradation of cotton candy over time, giving an indirect contribution to the protective effectiveness of cotton candy. In addition, several tests were conducted with different amounts of sugar and straw without wind to evaluate whether the straw can itself make a contribution in terms of thermal insulation, as well as contribute to the protective effectiveness of cotton candy, minimizing energy use as well.