ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Defining screening criteria and ranking in-row and inter-row cover crops for irrigated vineyards using a hybrid AHP– TOPSIS model
Provisionally accepted
- 1Summerland Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Summerland, Canada
- 2Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology, Sarnia, Canada
- 3University of Guelph, School of Engineering, Guelph, Canada
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Cover crops are increasingly important in sustainable vineyard management, yet species selection remains site-specific and challenging. We evaluated candidates in two commercial organic vineyards in the semi-arid Okanagan Valley, BC—CFF (13-yr Merlot) and KOW (10-yr Zweigelt)—using a hybrid multicriteria decision analysis (AHP–TOPSIS). Nine in-row and fifteen inter-row treatments (annuals and perennials) were evaluated in 2019 growing season. Field measures included biomass, ground cover, interference with the fruiting zone, invasiveness, pest/disease effects, drought and winter tolerance, and traffic tolerance. In both vineyards, risk of invasiveness (~43–60%) and interference with fruiting zones (~30%) were the most influential criteria. Top under-vine annuals were Lens culinaris (spring lentil), Brassica napus cv. Winfred, and Brassica rapa (purple-top turnip) with high relative closeness (RCi 0.87–0.96). Among perennials, Ladino Trifolium repens cv. Crescendo ranked highest (RCi ~0.84), supporting its use as a durable under-vine cover. For inter-rows, Pisum sativum + Secale cereale (pea–rye) led at CFF (RCi 0.89) and placed second at KOW; Trifolium incarnatum ranked second at CFF (RCi 0.83), while Trifolium alexandrinum led at KOW (RCi 0.94). Other annual clovers were intermediate (RCi 0.79–0.88), performing best on finer-textured, cooler, moister sites. The leading perennial inter-row mix was Lolium perenne + Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus (tillage radish; RCi 0.94), followed by a Festuca spp. mix (RCi 0.65–0.69). This MCDA delivers clear, literature-aligned rankings and a data-driven framework to guide regionally adapted cover-crop choices and future web-based decision tools.
Keywords: Ladino Trifolium repens, Lens culinaris, Lolium perenne, Multicriteria decision analysis, Raphanus sativus, Wine grape
Received: 30 Aug 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sharifi, Sayyad and El Sayed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mehdi Sharifi
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