Terroir 2020 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Soil management as a key factor on vineyard behavior under semiarid conditions: effects on soil biological activity, plant water and nutrient status, and grape yield and quality

Soil management as a key factor on vineyard behavior under semiarid conditions: effects on soil biological activity, plant water and nutrient status, and grape yield and quality

Abstract

Aims: Viticulture practices linked with soil management, as cover crops and deficit irrigation, can help to regulate the vineyard behavior reducing in most cases plant vigor and modifying plant water and nutrient status, and as a consequence, grape yield and quality. Also, these practices can modify the soil biological activity mostly related to microbiome diversity and functionality. However, the overall effect of these agricultural practices depends on the soil water availability, the soil fertility, and the grape cultivar response. Under semiarid conditions, the intensity of competition for water and nutrients associated to cover crop practice can be a handicap for a regulation of grape yield and quality. Also, the effect of cover crops on soil biology under those conditions is poorly understood.

Methods and Results: In the present work we present results of a three year’s experiment studying the effect of combining natural green cover and deficit irrigation on soil microbiome, plant water and nutritional status, and grape yield and quality, in two contrasting genotypes. Changes in functional diversity of microbiomes were mainly associated with soil moisture and also changed throughout the vegetative period. Nevertheless, organic matter decomposition assays determined that the maintenance of the cover implies not only a higher rate of decomposition of organic matter but also that a less fraction of it is degraded, favoring the accumulation of carbon in the soil. Under our experimental conditions, green cover reduced plant growth and yield due to an excess of competition for water regardless of genotype. However, the cover crop had a positive effect on grape quality increasing sugar and phenolic content. 

Conclusions: 

The maintenance of cover crop in vineyards under semiarid areas such as the Mediterranean basin, generates a balance between positive effects such as the increase of organic C in the soil or the improvement of the quality of the grape and negative effects such as the decrease in the availability of water in the soil or the decline of yields.

Significance and Impact of the Study: This study has shown that more sustainable soil management practices can have clear positive effects on the environmental services of the agroecosystem and yield quality. These results open a window to explore this type of management in less studied environments such as the Mediterranean.

DOI:

Publication date: March 25, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2020

Type : Video

Authors

José M. Escalona1,2*, Antonia Romero-Munar1, Josefina Bota1,2, Maurici Mus1, Elena Baraza1,2

Research Group of Plant Biology Under Mediterranean Conditions. Biology Department of Balearic Island University, Ctra Valldemossa km 7,5. 07122 Palma, Spain
Agro-Environmental and Water Economy Research Institute (INAGEA), Ctra Valldemossa km 7,5. 07122 Palma, Spain

Contact the author

Keywords

Cover crop, microbiome, grapevine, ecosystem services

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2020

Citation

Related articles…

Can soil nitrate explain polyphenol and anthocyanin content in vineyard with similar available soil water regime? 

Nitrogen (N) is quite important nutrient in grapevine development and must quality, but under Mediterranean climatic conditions, available soil water (ASW) during grapevine development can also influence vigour and must quality. The aim was to determine the influence of soil nitrate (NO3-) availability on N foliar, yield, and must quality in vineyards with similar available water holding capacity (AWC). For this purpose, four cv. Tempranillo (Vitis vinifera L.) vineyards were selected. All of them are placed in Uruñuela municipality (La Rioja, Spain), separated less than 2.5 km and in a slope <1 %, in soils with similar soil chemistry properties and with similar rooting depth (ranging between 105 cm and 110 cm).

Tannin potential and molecular toasting in cooperage: a tool to modulate fruity expression of red wine

AIM: Oak wood play traditionally a huge role in making fine red wines. During wine maturation, barrel yields some of its constituents to the wine and leads to the improvement of its quality, contributing to richness and complexity [1].

The performance of grapevines on identified terroirs in Stellenbosch, South Africa

A terroir can be defined as a natural unit that is characterised by a specific agricultural potential, which is imparted by natural environmental features, and is reflected in the characteristics of the final product.

Influence of pre-harvest elicitors treatment during ripening period on phenolic composition in Monastrell grapes

Phenolic compounds are very importants in crop plants, which is why there have been the subject of a large number of studies

Variability in intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) of eight red varieties grown in the center of the Iberian Peninsula during an atypical vintage year

The study was performed in the summer of 2007, the point of confluence of a rather atypical vintage year in the area with abnormally low temperatures after a very humid spring