Response of Table Grape to Irrigation Water in the Aconcagua Valley, Chile

Abstract

Abstract:The irrigation water available for agriculture will be scarce in the future due to increased competition for water with other sectors, and the issue may become more serious due to climate change. In Chile, the table grape is only cultivated under irrigation. A five-year research program (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012) was carried out in the Aconcagua Valley, the central area of grapes in Chile, to evaluate the response of table grape vines (Vitis vinifera L., cv Thompson Seedless) to different volumes of irrigation water. Four irrigation treatments were applied: 60, 88, 120 and 157% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) during the first four years, and 40, 54, 92 and 108% of ETc in the last year. Irrigation over 90%-100% of ETc did not increase fruit yield, whereas the application of water below 90% ETc decreased exportable yield, berry size and pruning weight. For example, 60% ETc applied water reduced exportable yield by 20%, and only 40% of the berries were in the extra and large category size, while pruning weight was 30% lower in comparison to the treatment receiving more water.

Impact of Water Deficit during Fruit Development on Quality and Yield of Young Table Grape Cultivars

“…This indicated that a moderate water deficit and stress treatment may have a beneficial effect on bunch weights in comparison to the control and the severe water deficit treatments, which achieved lower yields. Most grapevine studies have reported that drought stress and limited water supply led to decreasing bunch yields as well as berry sizes and weight [9,15,22]. Differences between the results of these studies and our study can be explained by variations in plant age, timing, duration, and intensity of water deficits during the growing season.…”

“…Decreasing fruit firmness was described by several authors, when vines were treated with increasing water limitation and drought stress levels [12,18]. However, Zunñiga et al [9,30] did not find decreasing fruit firmness when screening the response of quality and yield parameters of 'Flame Seedless' and 'Thompson Seedless' to different irrigation amounts. Overall, firmness is known to be highly dependent on the maturity stage of the berries, turgor pressure, water content [31], epidermal deterioration, and increasing cell wall elasticity [32].…”

“…Only a few studies have focused on the comparison of yield and quality of different table grape cultivars exposed to water deficits [22], especially on young vines. Most studies have investigated the performance of a single cultivar [9,10,27,28] most of which to our knowledge are not cultivated in Germany currently. Therefore, the aim of our experiment was to evaluate the effect of water deficit treatment on quality and yield of four 3-year old, own rooted and potted table grape cultivars already grown in Germany and to evaluate their suitability for a potential cultivation under foreseen water limiting conditions due to climate change.…”

“…In general, table grapes achieve high annual yields and indicate a high productivity for the water used [5][6][7][8]. However, they are exposed to high risks of quality and yield losses, when water is limited during growing seasons [9]. Timing, intensity, and duration of water limitation during the growing period are known to affect growth, yield, and quality of grapes differently [10].…”

Deficit irrigation in table grape: eco-physiological basis and potential use to save water and improve quality

“…Compared to wine grapes and other crops, table grapes characterize by very high annual yields (17.1 and 49.9 ton ha -1 ) and a considerably high water productivity (yield/profit vs water use) (Teixeira et al 2009;Molden et al 2010;Pereira et al 2012). However, such high yields are paralleled by very high water inputs as means to minimize risks of yield loss or low berry quality (Rodríguez et al 2010;Zúñiga-Espinoza et al 2015).…”