Terroir 2016 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Impact of defoliation on leaf and berry compounds of Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Riesling investigated using non-destructive methods)

Impact of defoliation on leaf and berry compounds of Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Riesling investigated using non-destructive methods)

Abstract

Climate change has a strong impact on the earlier onset of important phenological stages and plant development in viticulture. Hence, the adaptation of plant management is important to reply to climate related changes on a seasonal or long-term scale. In particular, a change in precipitation and higher temperatures entails the risk negatively impacting on fruit quality. An experiment was conducted where different canopy management strategies were applied to Riesling grapevines (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Riesling) planted in Winkel (Rheingau, Germany). Leaf removal at different canopy positions using various methods (e.g. manual vs. mechanical defoliation practices) led to a reduced photosynthetic active leaf area. Through modifications of the leaf area to fruit weight ratio, the berry ripening can be altered. Leaf removal of the bunch zone impacts fruit parameter and most importantly fruit health. Four different defoliation practices within a VSP trellis system were compared to a non-defoliated control during three growing seasons in an organic treated site: mechanical defoliation above the canopy (MDC); manually defoliation prior to flowering (DpF); defoliation of the bunch zone past flowering: Bunch zone defoliation (BZD) either suction fan plucking (EB490® Binger Seilzug, Germany) and mechanical defoliation or pulsation jetting of compressed air (DmS) (Siegwald®, Germany). Non-destructive measurements using a polyphenolmeter (Multiplex®3, Force-A, Orsay, France) were performed on leaves and berries to estimate the nutrition and ripening stage.

The chlorophyll index showed the lowest values for BZD and highest for control leaves. Additionally, on-the-go measurements were established to determine leaf components achieving vineyard maps in response to nitrogen or chlorophyll index. Furthermore, the data can be used for zoning the vineyard and harvest based on such mapping. When the severity of Botrytis cinerea was compared to control all treatments showed lower disease pressure (BZD -5.3 %, DpF -3.0 % and DmS -2.3 % respectively). Yield differed between -16 % (MDC), -8% DpF, -1 % (DmS) and +1 % (BZD) compared to the control having the highest (1.4 g) and BZD the lowest (1.1 g) single berry weight with a lower bunch compactness in 2014. Defoliation treatments influence the number of cluster per vine, where the lowest were found for DpF plants, accompanied with the lowest yield per single vine. These results help understanding the canopy characteristics and offer an opportunity to adapt the vineyard management strategies to seasonal changes.

DOI:

Publication date: June 23, 2020

Issue: Terroir 2016

Type: Article

Authors

Susanne TITTMANN, Vanessa STOEBER, Manfred STOLL

Geisenheim University, Department of general and organic viticulture, Von – Lade – Str. 1 D-65366 Geisenheim

Contact the author

Keywords

defoliation, non-invasive determination of leaf components, Multiplex, Plasmopara viticola, Vitis vinifera

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2016

Citation

Related articles…

Variations of soil attributes in vineyards influence their reflectance spectra

Knowledge on the reflectance spectrum of soil is potentially useful since it carries information on soil chemical composition that can be used to the planning of agricultural practices. If compared with analytical methods such as conventional chemical analysis, reflectance measurement provides non-destructive, economic, near real-time data. This paper reports results from reflectance measurements performed by spectroradiometry on soils from two vineyards in south Brazil. The vineyards are close to each other, are on different geological formations, but were subjected to the same management. The objective was to detect spectral differences between the two areas, correlating these differences to variations in their chemical composition, to assess the technique’s potential to predict soil attributes from reflectance data.To that end, soil samples were collected from ten selected vine parcels. Chemical analysis yield data on concentration of twenty-one soil attributes, and spectroradiometry was performed on samples. Chemical differences significant to a 95% confidence level between the two studied areas were found for six soil attributes, and the average reflectance spectra were separated by this same level along most of the observed spectral domain. Correlations between soil reflectance and concentrations of soil attributes were looked for, and for ten soil traits it was possible to define wavelength domains were reflectance and concentrations are correlated to confidence levels from 95% to 99%. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) analyses were performed comparing measured and predicted concentrations, and for fifteen out of 21 soil traits we found Pearson correlation coefficients r > 0.8. These preliminary results, which have to be validated, suggest that variations of concentration in the investigated soil attributes induce differences in reflectance that can be detected by spectroradiometry. Applications of these observations include the assessment of the chemical content of soils by spectroradiometry as a fast, low-cost alternative to chemical analytical methods.

VINIoT – Precision viticulture service

The project VINIoT pursues the creation of a new technological vineyard monitoring service, which will allow companies in the wine sector in the SUDOE space to monitor plantations in real time and remotely at various levels of precision. The system is based on spectral images and an IoT architecture that allows assessing parameters of interest viticulture and the collection of data at a precise scale (level of grape, plant, plot or vineyard) will be designed. In France, three subjects were specifically developed: evaluation of maturity, of water stress, and detection of flavescence dorée. For the evaluation of maturity, it has been decided first to work at the berry scale in the laboratory, then at the bunch scale and finally in the vineyard. The acquisition of the spectral hyperstal image as well as the reference analyzes to measure the maturity, were carried out in the laboratory after harvesting the berries in a maturity monitoring context. This work focuses on a case study to predict sugar content of three different grape varieties: Syrah, Fer Servadou and Mauzac. A robust method called Roboost-PLSR, developed in the framework of this work (Courand et al., 2022), to improve prediction model performance was applied on spectra after the acquirement of hyperspectral images. Regarding the evaluation of water stress, to work with a significant variability in terms of water status, it has been worked first with potted plants under 2 different water regimes. The facilities have allowed the supervision of irrigation and micro-climatic conditions. The regression models on agronomic variables (stomatal conductance, water potential, …) are studied. To detect flavescence dorée, the experimental plan has consisted of work at leaf scale in the laboratory first, and then in the field. To detect the disease from hyper-spectral imaging, a combination of multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) was proposed. This strategy proved the potential towards the discrimination of healthy and infected leaves by flavescence dorée based on the use of hyperspectral images (Mas Garcia et al., 2021).

Legacy of land-cover changes on soil erosion and microbiology in Burgundian vineyards

Soils in vineyards are recognized as complex agrosystems whose characteristics reflect complex interactions between natural factors (lithology, climate, slope, biodiversity) and human activities. To date, most of the unknown lies in an incomplete understanding of soil ecosystems, and specifically in the microbial biodiversity even though soil microbiota is involved in many key functions, such as nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. Soil biological properties are indicative of soil quality. Therefore, understanding how soil communities are related to soil ecosystem functioning is becoming an essential issue for soil strategy conservation. Here, we propose to assess the importance of land-cover history on the present-day microbiological and physico-chemical properties. The studied area was selected in the Burgundian vineyards (Pernand-Vergelesses, Burgundy, France) where land occupation has been reconstructed over the last 40 years. Soil samples were collected in five areas reflecting various land cover history (forest, vineyards, shifting from forest to vineyards). For each area, physico-chemical parameters (pH, C, N, P, grain size) were measured and DNA was extracted to characterize the abundance and diversity of microbial communities. The obtained results show significant differences in the five areas suggesting that present-day microbial molecular biomass and bacterial taxonomic is partly inherited from past land occupation. Over longer period of time, such study of land-uses legacies may help to better assess ecosystem recovery and the impact of management practices for a better soil quality and vineyards sustainability.

Modeling island and coastal vineyards potential in the context of climate change

Climate change impacts regional and local climates, which in turn affects the world’s wine regions. In the short term, these modifications rises issues about maintaining quality and style of wine, and in a longer term about the suitability of grape varieties and the sustainability of traditional wine regions. Thus, adaptation to climate change represents a major challenge for viticulture. In this context, island and coastal vineyards could become coveted areas due to their specific climatic conditions. In regions subject to warming, the proximity of the sea can moderate extremes temperatures, which could be an advantage for wine. However, coastal and island areas are particular prized spaces and subject to multiple pressures that make the establishment or extension of viticulture complex.
In this perspective, it seems relevant to assess the potentialities of coastal and island areas for viticulture. This contribution will present a spatial optimization model that tends to characterize most suitable agroclimatic patterns in historical or emerging vineyards according to different scenarios. Thanks to an in-depth bibliography a global inventory of coastal and insular vineyards on a worldwide scale has been realized. Relevant criteria have been identified to describe the specificities of these vineyards. They are used as input data in the optimization process, which will optimize some objectives and spatial aspects. According to a predefined scenario, the objectives are set in three main categories associated with climatic characteristics, vineyards characteristics and management strategies. At the end of this optimization process, a series of maps presents the different spatial configurations that maximize the scenario objectives.

Effects of graft quality on growth and grapevine-water relations

Climate change is challenging viticulture worldwide compromising its sustainability due to warmer temperatures and the increased frequency of extreme events. Grafting Vitis vinifera L.