Reference no: EM132361709

Balanced vines and balanced pruning

Introduction

What is a balanced vine? You can have a balanced vine cropping at 10t/ha and one cropping at 20t/ha. Achieving a balanced vine in the vineyard is largely the main goal of the viticulturist. A balanced vine is generally classified as a situation when maximum fruit yields can be ripened to the targeted fruit quality consistently from year to year. The climate and soil environments are the main factors regulating the capacity of the vine, thus making it difficult for the viticulturist to ascertain what a balanced vine for a specific vineyard site is.

A common method of assessing vine balance is measuring the yield to pruning weight ratio (Y/P). It is generally accepted that vine balance can be maintained with a Y/P weight ratio of between 5 - 10 kg of fruit per 1 kg of pruning weight (Smart, 2001) with cooler climates being at the lower values.

Balanced pruning is one method a viticulturist can use to match vegetative growth to fruit production to construct a balanced vine from season to season. Leaving more buds at pruning results in shorter shoots per vine, while severely pruning vines with fewer buds retained will have less shoots that grow faster and results in higher shoot vigour. The key is to work out the required number of buds to retain at pruning to produce balanced vines. Richard Smart developed the "two golden rules" of pruning to help make this decision.

Rule 1: Prune to 30 buds per kilogram of pruning weight

Rule 2: Prune so you will have 15 shoots per metre of canopy

Requirement

You are to produce an assignment based on the following scenario. You have just purchased a vineyard and you have just signed a supply arrangement with a large local wine company. The company produces a table wine (you will negotiate a variety to use with tutors) and they are positive that a "balanced vine" grown on your site will suit the wine style and grape quality they are after.

You are to prepare an assignment that will outline the analysis of the current vine balance situation and a plan going forward with the pruning for the coming season.

The vineyard
On-Campus students will be given a "bay" each in the EIT vineyard to collect the details that will be used for the assignment.

Distance students will need to monitor a "bay" of vines in a commercial grape crop in a vine yard. You are required to find this yourself and you can use either the same vineyard as selected with your practical report or a different one. If you are having difficulty you can contact the lecturers and we can help you.

Table 1 gives vine details that you will need to collect in order to assess the vine yard's current status and cropping levels. Using this information you will consider if the vines are in balance and then develop a pruning regime and or canopy management techniques to achieve a balanced vine in the next season.

Assignment structure
As a minimum your assignment should have the following headings:

1. Title Page
Name of the work, your name, student ID etc.

2. Introduction
Give a brief but concise introduction on the vineyard site you have collected data from. Additionally, in your own words discuss the importance of vine balance in a vineyard.

3. Current situation
In this section you are to examine the results obtained from data collected in Table 1 and based on these figures and your own research discuss if the vineyard is in balance.

4. Proposal
In this section you are to propose a pruning and canopy management regime that will provide the basis for developing a balanced vine in the following season.

Make sure to discuss the changes you're proposing and include the following:
• Discussion on the vine vigour and the appropriateness of the current pruning levels
• Why this proposal is ideal and compare it to other alternatives
• Measurements to achieve balanced vines by pruning and canopy management techniques
• Any potential effect on sensory or quality of the grapes and wine
• Advantages and disadvantages of your proposal
• Reasons and justification of each proposal
• How, through published research, your proposal is sound.

In the final part of this section you will provide a list of clear instructions that will be used by the vineyard manager to govern the management of the vineyard.

Include the following:
• The instructions that you would give to the vineyard manager
• Pruning method and number of count nodes desired
• Canopy management techniques you would use and to what extent
• The decisions that will affect the crop level and vine balance

5. Conclusion
Give a conclusion outlining the important aspects of your assignment and the decisions you recommend.

Attachment:- Balanced vines and balanced pruning.rar

Attachment:- Practical data.rar