Gas Exchange Relations of Ungrafted Grapevines (cv. Carménère) Growing Under Irrigated Field Conditions

A study was carried out to evaluate the leaf gas exchange relations and water-use efficiency (WUE) of ungrafted Carménère (Vitis vinifera L.) grapevines growing under field conditions and different levels of water stress. Stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration (E), net CO2 assimilation (AN) and stem water potential (Ψs) were measured at midday in a drip-irrigated commercial vineyard located in the Maule Valley (Chile) during three growing seasons (2005 to 2009). In addition, the instantaneous (AN/E) and intrinsic (AN/gs) water-use efficiencies and stomatal sensitivity factor (k) were estimated for the own-rooted grapevines. In this study a significant non-linear relationship was observed between AN and gs (r2 = 0.82), with values of AN decreasing from 14.9 to 3.5 μmol/m2/sec as gs diminished from 0.5 to 0.05 mol/m2/sec. This resulted in a progressive increase in WUEi (intrinsic water use efficiency). A significant linear relationship was observed between Ψs and gs (r2 = 0.39) for measurements taken before and after véraison, with an increasing scattering from -1.6 to -0.4 MPa. Finally, k decreased as water stress increased, with values of 234 and 120 for no and severe water stress respectively, while k ranged from 264 to 480 and 255 to 297 for the measurements taken before and after véraison respectively. Based on the results obtained in the present study, the cultivar Carménère could be classified as drought tolerant at low water potentials, with a large range of physiological parameters changing in response to water stress

Yield and Water Productivity Responses to Irrigation Cut-off Strategies after Fruit Set Using Stem Water Potential Thresholds in a Super-High Density Olive Orchard

An increase in the land area dedicated to super-high density olive orchards has occurred in Chile in recent years. Such modern orchards have high irrigation requirements, and optimizing water use is a priority. Moreover, this region presents low water availability, which makes necessary to establish irrigation strategies to improve water productivity. An experiment was conducted during four consecutive growing seasons (2010–2011 to 2013–2014) to evaluate the responses of yield and water productivity to irrigation cut-off strategies. These strategies were applied after fruit set using midday stem water potential (Ψstem) thresholds in a super-high density olive orchard (cv. Arbequina), located in the Pencahue Valley, Maule Region, Chile. The experimental design was completely randomized with four irrigation cut-off treatments based on the Ψstem thresholds and four replicate plots per treatment (five trees per plot). Similar to commercial growing conditions in our region, the Ψstem in the T1 treatment was maintained between -1.4 and -2.2 MPa (100% of actual evapotranspiration), while T2, T3 and T4 treatments did not receive irrigation from fruit set until they reached a Ψstem threshold of approximately -3.5, -5.0, and -6.0 MPa, respectively. Once the specific thresholds were reached, irrigation was restored and maintained as T1 in all treatments until fruits were harvested. Yield and its components were not significantly different between T1 and T2, but fruit yield and total oil yield, fruit weight, and fruit diameter were decreased by the T3 and T4 treatments. Moreover, yield showed a linear response with water stress integral (SΨ), which was strongly influenced by fruit load. Total oil content (%) and pulp/stone ratio were not affected by the different irrigation strategies. Also, fruit and oil water productivities were significantly greater in T1 and T2 than in the T3 and T4. Moreover, the T2, T3, and T4 treatments averaged 37, 51, and 72 days without irrigation which represented 75–83, 62–76, and 56–70% of applied water compared with T1, respectively. These results suggest that using the T2 irrigation cut-off strategy could be applied in a super-high density olive orchard (cv. Arbequina) because it maintained yields, saving 20% of the applied water

Estimation of stomatal conductance and stem water potential threshold values for water stress in olive trees (cv. Arbequina)

Many irrigation strategies have been proposed in olive orchards to overcome both increasing water scarcity and competition for water with other sectors of society. However, threshold values of stomatal conductance (gs) and stem water potential (Ψstem) for use in designing deficit irrigation strategies have not yet been adequately defined. Thus, an experiment was conducted to determine gs and Ψstem thresholds for water stress in a super-intensive olive orchard (cv. Arbequina) located in Pencahue Valley (Maule Region, Chile) over three consecutive growing seasons. The experimental design was completely randomized with four irrigation treatments. The stem water potential (Ψstem) of the T1 treatment was maintained between − 1.4 and − 2.2 MPa, while the T2, T3, and T4 treatments did not receive irrigation from fruit set until they reached a Ψstem threshold of approximately − 3.5, − 5.0, and − 6.0 MPa, respectively. Stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration (Tl), net CO2 assimilation (An), and stem water potential (Ψstem) were measured fortnightly at midday. A significant nonlinear correlation between An and gs was used to establish different levels of water stress. Water stress was considered to be mild or absent when the gs values were greater than 0.18 mol m−2 s−1, whereas water stress was estimated to increase from moderate to severe as gs decreased significantly below 0.18 mol m−2 s−1. Similarly, water stress using Ψstem was determined to be mild or absent above − 2.0 MPa. Such categorizations should provide valuable information for maintaining trees well-watered in critical phenological phases.Fil: Ahumada Orellana, L.. Universidad de Talca; ChileFil: Ortega Farías, S.. Universidad de Talca; ChileFil: Poblete Echeverría, C.. Stellenbosch University; SudáfricaFil: Searles, Peter Stoughton. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; Argentin

INVESTIGACIÓN - EFECTO DE DIFERENTES NIVELES DE AGUA APLICADA EN POSCUAJA Y EN POSPINTA SOBRE LA CALIDAD DEL VINO cv. CABERNET SAUVIGNON (Effects of different levels of water application in post-setting and post-veraison on wine quality cv. Cabernet Sauvignon)

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of different levels of water application during post setting and post veraison on wine quality of cv. Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera L.) during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 growing seasons. The vineyard is located in the PencahueValley, VII Region of Chile (35°22' S lat; 71°47' W long). The 7 year-old vineyard was drip irrigated and trained in a vertical shoot positional system. Irrigation treatments were the application of 40, 70 and 100% of the real evapotranspiration (ETreal) during post setting and post veraison. The results showed that the best combination for wine quality was obtained by restricting water applications to 40% ETreal during post setting and 70% ETreal during post veraison, with significant increments in the global quality and wine sensory attributes. On the contrary, the worst wine quality (higher titratable acidity and low total concentrations of phenols and anthocyanins) was obtained with a water application of 100% of the ETreal during the whole growing period

Evapotranspiração e coeficiente de cultivo do tomate caqui cultivado em ambiente protegido Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of Kaki tomato cultivated in greenhouse

Os parâmetros aerodinâmicos de uma cultura cultivada em ambiente protegido podem ser considerados dependentes do nível de radiação global, temperatura do ar e umidade do ar, com base em leis exponenciais. Assim sendo se propôs com este trabalho, estimar a evapotranspiração e o coeficiente de cultivo da cultura do tomate caqui em ambiente protegido, sob irrigação por gotejamento, utilizando-se o modelo de Penman-Monteith. Os parâmetros aerodinâmicos foram medidos com sensores conectados à estação automática instalada dentro do ambiente protegido. A evapotranspiração da cultura (ETc) foi determinada experimentalmente por meio de lisímetros de drenagem e a umidade do solo foi medida através de sensores instalados a uma profundidade de 20 cm. O desempenho do modelo de Penman-Monteith foi comparado aos valores decendiais do balanço hídrico nos lisímetros; já a evapotranspiração de referência foi calculada com dados externos e utilizada para o cálculo do Kc da cultura; enfim, os resultados indicaram que o modelo de Penman-Monteith subestima os valores de evapotranspiração encontrados pelo balanço hídrico nos lisímetros.<br>The aerodynamic parameters of a crop cultivated in greenhouse can be considered dependent upon the level of global radiation, air temperature and relative humidity, based on exponential laws. Consequently, this work intends to estimate the evapotranspiration and the crop coefficient of Kaki tomato in greenhouse, under drip irrigation, using the Penman-Monteith model. The aerodynamic parameters were measured with sensors connected to the automatic station installed inside the greenhouse. The ETc was determined experimentally through drainage lysimeters and the soil water content was measured through sensors installed at a depth of 20 cm. The performance of the Penman-Monteith model was compared to decennial values of the water balance in the lysimeters, while the reference evapotranspiration was calculated with external data and used for calculation of crop Kc. The results indicated that the Penman-Monteith model underestimates the evapotranspiration values found by the water balance in the lysimeters

Nanostructured silica-supported gold: Effect of nanoparticle size distribution and electronic state on its catalytic properties in oxidation reactions

Gold nanocatalysts, active in several oxidation reactions, suffer of insufficient time-on-stream stability. The easiest way to solve this problem is modifying the support, due to metal-support interaction. This study compares modifying effects of MgO and La2O3 on textural, electronic, and catalytic properties of Au nanoparticles (NPs) supported on inert nanostructured SiO2 in CO oxidation and liquid phase 1-octanol oxidation. Modification of the silica support surface with La and Mg increased metal support interaction, leading to gold particles with primary size of 1 nm but with different stability: stable under different pretreatment conditions on Mg-modified samples but highly sensible to the pretreatments on La-modified samples. Both modifiers changed electronic properties of supported gold favoring formation and stabilization of Auδ+ states, which are probable gold active sites in catalytic redox processes. Modification with La and Mg oxides changed catalytic properties in CO oxidation before and after pretreatment in H2 at 300 °C for 1 h. Gold catalysts supported on La- and Mg-modified silica showed similar performance in 1-octanol oxidation with higher conversion than unmodified Au/SiO2. La and Mg showed better promoting effects of catalytic properties in this reaction than redox modifiers (Fe and Ce) supported on small SiO2 particles