SOC enrichment and GHG mitigation in Greek Mediterranean vineyard

Daphne Kitsou¹, Paraskevi Chantzi¹˒², Dimitrios Gkoutzikostas¹, Vasileios Rousonikolos¹, Theodoros Gkrimpizis¹, Konstantina Gkouramani¹, and Georgios Zalidis¹˒²

¹Interbalkan Environment Centre – Green Innovation Hub, Thessaloniki, Greece
²Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

Building soil organic carbon (SOC) while lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a key challenge for Mediterranean vineyards. We assessed SOC dynamics and the GHG footprint of a 0.4 ha vine field in Epanomi, Central Macedonia, Greece, over two consecutive seasons. A cradle‑to‑farm‑gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) compared a 2024 business‑as‑usual baseline with a 2025 season in which carbon farming practices were introduced.
In 2024, the vineyard was managed with full tillage, low organic inputs and rainfed conditions, and the SOC stock was assumed to be stable. Emissions were dominated by field energy use and no measurable change in soil carbon stocks was detected. In 2025, reduced tillage and a winter cover crop were adopted while fertilizer inputs remained comparable, allowing the effect of management on carbon flows to be isolated. Soil analyses showed an increase in soil organic matter from 2.03 to 3.10% and SOC from 1.18 to 1.80% in the top 30 cm, indicating substantial carbon accumulation.
Between the two seasons, the GHG footprint per hectare decreased by about one‑third, and the emission intensity per kilogram of grapes was almost halved. Overall, the results demonstrate that combining reduced tillage with cover cropping can substantially enhance SOC storage while simultaneously lowering operational GHG emissions in Mediterranean perennial systems.