Articles
Inter-row cover crops affect vine performance of ‘Varo 203’ seedless table grape in organic cultivation in Apulia region
Article number
1442_24
Pages
183 – 190
Language
English
Abstract
Currently in Apulia region some classic seeded table grape cultivars are being replaced with new seedless cultivars, mainly coming from foreign breeding.
However, this widening of the ampelographic base is not often supported by objective and experimental data on the performance of these new cultivars in a hot-arid environment, such as the Apulia region.
The trial was carried out in 2021-2022 seasons at an experimental 2-year-old vineyard located in Taranto province (Apulia region, Italy), trained to “tendone trellis system” on ‘Varo 203’ vines grafted onto 140 Ruggeri (V. cinerea var. helleri ‘Resseguier #2’ × V. rupestris ‘St.
George’). Two inter-row cover crops were compared: the first is a commercial mixture of grasses such as Festuca arundinacea ‘Sitka’ 50%, Festuca rubra ‘Maxima’ 40%, Poa pratense ‘Sunbeam’ 10% while the second is a mixture of grasses such as Lolium perenne ‘Mathilde’ 50%, Festuca rubra ‘Maxima 1’ 47% and a legume such as Trifolium repense ‘Rivendel’ 3%. ‘Varo 203’ vines showed a good performance on the two cover crop types with no difference on shoots and clusters number, with fruitfulness values ranging from 1.35 to 1.48. Consequently, yield vine‑1 reached 23 kg with an estimated yield ha‑1 of more than 30 t.
At the same time cover crops did not affect vines vigor with the similar values of pruning wood weight per vine.
Leaf gas exchanges showed high rates of net assimilation in the grasses cover crop at veráison in the 2021 season and during flowering and veráison in the 2022 season.
Soil gas exchanges showed similar values of CO2 flux (respectively 0.59 and 0.75 g CO2 m‑2 s‑1) during flowering period in 2021. At véraison a greater carbon dioxide flow was registered in the grass cover (0.46 vs. 0.39 g CO2 m‑2 s‑1), similar values of soil temperature while a higher soil water content was measured on a mixture of grasses and legume cover crop.
During 2022 season a greater carbon dioxide flow was registered in the grasses and legume cover crop at veráison.
At harvest, no significant differences emerged for cluster weight, berry diameters and titratable acidity.
Grasses inter-row cover crop increases berry weight and determines highest total soluble solids.
Berry skin color parameters on grasses cover crops showed difference in terms of brightness (L*), redness and yellowness.
However, this widening of the ampelographic base is not often supported by objective and experimental data on the performance of these new cultivars in a hot-arid environment, such as the Apulia region.
The trial was carried out in 2021-2022 seasons at an experimental 2-year-old vineyard located in Taranto province (Apulia region, Italy), trained to “tendone trellis system” on ‘Varo 203’ vines grafted onto 140 Ruggeri (V. cinerea var. helleri ‘Resseguier #2’ × V. rupestris ‘St.
George’). Two inter-row cover crops were compared: the first is a commercial mixture of grasses such as Festuca arundinacea ‘Sitka’ 50%, Festuca rubra ‘Maxima’ 40%, Poa pratense ‘Sunbeam’ 10% while the second is a mixture of grasses such as Lolium perenne ‘Mathilde’ 50%, Festuca rubra ‘Maxima 1’ 47% and a legume such as Trifolium repense ‘Rivendel’ 3%. ‘Varo 203’ vines showed a good performance on the two cover crop types with no difference on shoots and clusters number, with fruitfulness values ranging from 1.35 to 1.48. Consequently, yield vine‑1 reached 23 kg with an estimated yield ha‑1 of more than 30 t.
At the same time cover crops did not affect vines vigor with the similar values of pruning wood weight per vine.
Leaf gas exchanges showed high rates of net assimilation in the grasses cover crop at veráison in the 2021 season and during flowering and veráison in the 2022 season.
Soil gas exchanges showed similar values of CO2 flux (respectively 0.59 and 0.75 g CO2 m‑2 s‑1) during flowering period in 2021. At véraison a greater carbon dioxide flow was registered in the grass cover (0.46 vs. 0.39 g CO2 m‑2 s‑1), similar values of soil temperature while a higher soil water content was measured on a mixture of grasses and legume cover crop.
During 2022 season a greater carbon dioxide flow was registered in the grasses and legume cover crop at veráison.
At harvest, no significant differences emerged for cluster weight, berry diameters and titratable acidity.
Grasses inter-row cover crop increases berry weight and determines highest total soluble solids.
Berry skin color parameters on grasses cover crops showed difference in terms of brightness (L*), redness and yellowness.
Authors
L. Tarricone, F. Calcagno, R.A. Milella, A.M. Amendolagine, F. Mazzone, S. Roccotelli, G. Gentilesco
Keywords
grapevine, soil respiration, leaf gas exchange, berry weight, berry skin color
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