A soil-plant-atmosphere approach to evaluate the effect of irrigation/fertigation strategy on grapevine water and nutrient uptake, grape quality and yield

S. Fuentes, G. Rogers, J. Jobling, J. Conroy, C. Camus, M. Dalton, L. Mercenaro

    Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperConference Paperpeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    ![CDATA[Water is a scarce resource worldwide and a particular problem for producers of wine grapes in Australia, where drought occurrences are frequent, determining severe limitations to vine growth and productivity. Consequently, most vineyards are irrigated and the development of efficient water and nutrient management and monitoring practices are required. This research presents preliminary results of the application of a soil-plant-atmosphere approach to accurately assess vine water and nutrient uptake on grapevines (Vitis vinifera L. var. Shiraz) located in Richmond New South Wales (NSW) (season 2004-05). Soil water and nutrient monitoring (measured as volumetric soil moisture and soil electric conductivity changes, respectively) was carried out by using the newly developed TriSCAN® probes (Sentek Pty. Ltd., Australia). The TriSCAN®probes were distributed in a 3D array close to the root-zone to create 3D animations of soil wetting patterns and nutrient patterns of fully irrigated (FI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) treatments. Soil water and nutrient dynamics were studied in post-harvest for this paper in a period of 17 days. Animations of soil moisture and nutrient patterns were obtained using the WPA copyright software. Through animation analysis, it was found that the zones of maximum root water and nutrient uptake occurred initially near the vine trunk and then progressed to deeper layers of the active root-zone. Whole vine transpiration rates were measured using sap flow probes (compensated heat-pulse) and plant water status was measured as midday stem water potential (ψs) for irrigation scheduling purposes. Weather data were collected from a meteorological station close to the trial site. For the studied season, only mild vine water stress was achieved in RDI treatments (ψs values between -0.8 to -1.1 MPa), therefore, no significant differences were found in grape quality and yield between fully irrigated and RDI vines. However, significant reduction in water application was achieved in RDI compared with fully irrigated vines (36% less). A soil-plant-atmosphere assessment throughout the whole season allows accurate irrigation/fertigation practices minimising fertiliser leaching losses, therefore reducing the negative environmental impacts of irrigation.]]
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings of the Vth International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops: Mildura, Australia, August 28 - September 2, 2006
    PublisherInternational Society for Horticultural Science
    Pages297-303
    Number of pages7
    ISBN (Print)9789066054875
    Publication statusPublished - 2008
    EventInternational Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops -
    Duration: 28 Aug 2006 → …

    Publication series

    Name
    ISSN (Print)0567-7572

    Conference

    ConferenceInternational Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops
    Period28/08/06 → …

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'A soil-plant-atmosphere approach to evaluate the effect of irrigation/fertigation strategy on grapevine water and nutrient uptake, grape quality and yield'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this