Water is a key resource in commercial wine production and both large excesses and deficits have undesirable effects upon the amount and quality of the wine produced. A balance between the water requirements of a fully developed canopy and the induced stress necessary for the commercial quality of the wine must be reached. Thus we need a physiological indicator that integrates both soil and climatic conditions to use as a management tool. An experimental field was established in the eastern part of the Demarcated Region of Douro -Portugal, to study the effect of water supply on the quality of the musts produced and we need a physiological indicator that relates to the water use and stress of the grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) and to the later evaluation of the effect of irrigation practices upon the quality of the musts. We chose as indicators sap flow, leaf water potential at pre-dawn (0600 h), mid-morning (1000 h), solar noon (1400 h) and sunset (1900 h), stomatal conductance and leaf transpiration both measured at mid-morning and at solar noon, and related them to our experimental treatments that induce differences in soil water content, evaluated with time-domain reflectometry probes, with the objective of selecting the indicator that best describes the plant water status under different amounts of available water. Sap flow, leaf water potential and leaf transpiration rate measured at solar noon had highly significant correlations with soil water content and their regression on soil water content was also highly significant. Each of these parameters has shortcomings and none has a clear advantage over the other two as an integrator of the environmental conditions under these experimental conditions. Further studies of the parameters and their relationship with the quality characteristics of the produced musts are needed to achieve the ultimate objective of manipulating the soil water content.

<p>A moringa (<em>Moringa oleifera</em> Lam) é uma árvore nativa da Índia e de elevada importância principalmente pelo seu valor nutricional, medicinal e de purificação da água. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito de níveis de fertilização orgânica no crescimento e desenvolvimento inicial de mudas de moringa nas condições semiáridas do Estado da Paraíba, Brasil. O experimento foi conduzido em condições de túnel plástico, localizado no Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia Agroalimentar, da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Campus de Pombal, UFCG. Utilizou-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com os tratamentos compostos de sete níveis de fertilização orgânica (0,0; 108,0; 216,0; 432,0; 864,0; 1728,0 e 3456,0 g.vaso^-1), com quatro repetições. Foram avaliados os seguintes parâmetros: i) altura das plantas (cm), ii) diâmetro do caule (mm), iii) número de folhas, iv) fitomassa fresca das folhas, v) fiomassa seca da parte aérea (g), vi) fitomassa seca da raiz (g), vii) razão fitomassa seca da parte aérea/raiz (g) e, viii) comprimento da raiz principal (cm). A utilização dos níveis de fertilização orgânica influenciou significativamente o crescimento e desenvolvimento inicial das mudas de moringa. Com a elevação dos níveis de esterco adicionados ao substrato, observou-se o decréscimo das variáveis analisadas, tendo como melhor resultado o nível de 864,0 g.vaso^-1 para a altura da planta e o nível de 432,0 g.vaso^-1 para os demais parâmetros avaliados. O nível de 432,0 g.vaso^-1 provocou os maiores acréscimos na massa seca da parte aérea e comprimento das raízes. Os níveis de esterco bovino de 108,0 g.vaso^-1 e 432,0 g.vaso^-1, promoveram um maior incremento para a razão entre a parte aérea/raiz e comprimento da raiz, respectivamente. Para produção de mudas de moringa de boa qualidade a aplicação de pequenas quantidades de esterco bovino é suficiente.</p><p align="center"><strong><em>O</em></strong><strong><em>rganic fertilization levels on the vegetative growth of moringa (</em></strong><em>Moringa oleifera<strong> Lam.)</strong></em><strong><em></em></strong></p><p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong>: </strong>Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam) is a tree native of India and high importance especially for its nutritional value, medicinal and water purification. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of organic fertilization levels on growth and initial development of moringa seedlings in semi-arid conditions of the State of Paraiba, Brazil. The experiment was conducted in plastic tunnel conditions, located in the Centro de Ciências e tecnologia Agroalimentar da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Campus de Pombal, UFCG. We used a completely randomized design with the treatments composed of seven levels of organic fertilization (0,0; 108,0; 216,0; 432,0; 864,0; 1728,0 e 3456,0 g.vaso^-1), with four repetitions. The following parameters were evaluated: i) plant height (cm), ii) stem diameter (mm), iii) number of leaves, iv) fresh weight of leaves, v) dry weight of shoots (g), vi) dry weight of the root (g), vii) dry weight ratio of shoot / root (g) and viii) main root length (cm). The use of organic fertilization levels significantly influenced the growth and early development of moringa seedlings. With the rise of manure levels added to the substrate, there was the decrease of the variables analyzed, with a best result the level of 864.0 g.vaso^-1 for plant height and the level of 432.0 g.vaso^-1 for the other parameters. The level of 432.0 g.vaso^-1 caused the greatest increases in dry weight of shoot and root length. The levels of bovine manure 108.0 g.vaso^-1 and 432.0 g.vaso^-1, promoted a greater increase for the ratio of root / shoot and root length, respectively. To produce good quality moringa seedlings the application of small amounts of bovine manure is sufficient.</p>

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This is an experiment to study the effect of water supply on the quality of the must produced by grapevines, and to determine the water use efficiency (WUE) of different irrigation strategies to give farmers a tool to optimize irrigation, reducing water use with the least negative effect on production. WUE was based on the ratio between a given parameter (yield, different must solubes) and the water used by plant transpiration plus evaporation from soil. The experiment was a completely randomized design with six irrigation treatments (non-irrigated, irrigated from flowering to veraison at rates of 4 and 8 mm day 71 , irrigated from veraison to commercial maturation at rates of 4 and 8 mm day 71 , and irrigated from flowering to commercial maturation at a rate of 8 mm day 71 ) in three replications over three seasons (2004)(2005)(2006). Irrigation significantly increased grapevine yield and, because the plants produced larger berries, there was a dilution of colour, aroma and soluble solids that corresponded to a lower quality of the must. The higher WUE was achieved with no irrigation but yield was very low, albeit with an outstanding quality, that might not be profitable. The best strategy is to balance the water stress of the vines that best combines yield and berry quality and this was achieved by irrigating from flowering to veraison at a rate of *50% of the potential evapotranspiration. This strategy might conserve water, an increasingly scarce resource that we are pressed to use with the utmost efficiency.