Defining screening criteria and ranking in-row and inter-row cover crops for irrigated vineyards using a hybrid AHPTOPSIS model
Mehdi Sharifi, Summerland Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Abbas Sayyad, Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology; Eman El Sayed, University of Guelph
Cover crops are increasingly important in sustainable vineyard management, yet species selection remains site-specific and challenging. Three researchers evaluated candidates in two commercial organic vineyards in the semi-arid Okanagan Valley, British Columbia—CFF (13-year Merlot) and KOW (10-year Zweigelt)—using a hybrid multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) [Analytic Hierarchy Process–Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (AHP–TOPSIS)]. This study delivers clear, literature-aligned rankings and a data-driven framework to guide regionally adapted cover-crop choices and future web-based decision tools.
This research was funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the British Columbia Wine Grape Council (BCWGC) through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program (CAP-Organic Science Cluster III-ASC13-Activity 15A; AAFC Project ID: J-002172). The Organic Science Cluster III projects were administered by the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC).