A SIMULATION MODEL FOR SOLUTE TRANSPORT FOR FERTILIZATION ADVICES FOR VINEFARMERS

In order to reduce the nitrate input into the groundwater in grape growing areas, a model is used for optimizing the fertilizer recommendations for farmers.
This one-dimensional model for heat, water and solute transport in the unsaturated zone includes the influence of topography on the heat and radiation regime.
Different cultivation systems of vineyards, such as permanent greencover and normal tillage, are taken into account.
Depending on the seasonal weather conditions, the temperature and the water content of the soil profile is calculated.
Using this information the strong temperature and humidity dependent mineralization of organic material as well as the vertical transport of the solute is simulated.
For transformation of organic material into NO₃, experimentally determined rate-coefficients of four locations, representing typical soils of the vine-growing area Rheingau in Germany, are used.

The simulated results are exact enough to give advices to the farmers, because vineyard soils need to be fertilized only if the total amount is ≤ 30 kg NO₃-N/ha.

IV International Symposium on Computer Modelling in Fruit Research and Orchard Management

H. Jagoutz, G. Berthold, K. Schaller

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1996.416.22