Inoculation of mycorrhizal fungi on a vineyard. The impact of a mycorrhiza-inoculated under-vine cover crop on grapevine performance and soil quality in a Portuguese vineyard

Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica / Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade de LisboaGrapevine inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve their nutrient and water status and help them cope with abiotic and biotic stresses. However, the inoculation success depends on several factors, such as the host plant and AMF genotype, environmental conditions and the inoculation method. To test the potential benefits of grapevine AMF inoculation through mycelium donor plants (MDP), a three-year experiment was set in a vineyard planted in 2007 in Lisbon. Rye plants were inoculated with Funneliformis mosseae and used as MDP, being established as under-vine cover crops. Another two under-vine management treatments were installed to compare the potential benefits of this inoculation system on grapevine nutrition, growth, physiology, yield, berry quality and soil properties: conventional vegetation management (CON), with regular herbicide applications on the row, and non-inoculated rye covers (NIRC). The inoculation of F. mosseae was successful. Soil from inoculated rye cover (IRC) plots had double and four times the mycorrhizal infective propagules than NIRC and CON plots, respectively. At plant nutrition level, only Fe differed among treatments, whose concentration diminished on grapevine leaves from IRC plots. At pre-harvest, when temperatures were highest and soil water lowest, grapevines from IRC plots had 50% higher photosynthetic rate and 70% higher stomatal conductance than NIRC and CON grapevines. The competition for water induced by the under-vine cover crops diminished the vigour of grapevines by half on their pruning wood weight, compared to CON grapevines, although without statistical significance. No significant effect on yield and berry quality was found, apart from a greater number of clusters from CON and IRC grapevines. Therefore, if correctly managed with adequate irrigation and frequent mowing to avoid excessive competition with grapevines, the use of inoculated under-vine cover crops can improve grapevine performance and offers a sustainable alternative to herbicide use in Mediterranean vineyards, without compromising yield or berry qualityN/

The effects of field inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi through rye donor plants on grapevine performance and soil properties

Grapevines are highly dependent on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for normal growth and development. However, vineyard soils may have low AMF abundance and diversity due to conventional soil management practices that are detrimental for these fungi. In this context, the establishment of AMF-inoculated cover crops can be a highly convenient strategy to reestablish soil mycorrhizal potential, as it combines the advantages of a vigorous inoculum source coming from mycorrhizal donor plants with the overall benefits of green covers for grape quality, microbial diversity and soil health. In this work, the potential benefits of Funneliformis mosseae-inoculated under-vine cover crops on grapevine growth, physiology and production were compared to those derived from 1) the establishment of non-inoculated under-vine cover crops, and 2) conventional herbicide-based weed control in the under-vine space. In addition, grapevine root AMF community composition was analyzed to assess if the introduction of a non-native AMF species induced changes on resident mycorrhizal community assemblies and to unveil potential variations in AMF diversity associated to herbicide replacement by green covers. Results indicated that under-vine cover crops, inoculated or not, led to a general vigor decrease in grapevines, probably due to competition between the two species. However, after a heat wave that occurred at harvest time in the second year of the experiment, grapevines growing in plots with inoculated cover crops had the highest photochemical reflectance indices and net photosynthesis rates, and partially compensated production losses due to berry sunburn. Root mycorrhizal community analysis by the end of the experiment revealed that the inoculated F. mosseae isolate colonized grapevine roots from inoculated plots, while it was absent in the other ones. Moreover, inoculation of this AMF did not lead to a replacement of native root AMF communities, but allowed further colonization by other resident Glomeraceae and non-Glomeraceae AMF taxa. Overall, the work herein demonstrates that the introduction of F. mosseae through donor plants is a suitable field inoculation method for grapevines and can help them to better withstand heat wavesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

The pattern of soil water extraction by individual kiwifruit vines : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Agricultural Science in Soil Science at Massey University

In order to efficiently design and operate irrigation systems water balance studies are needed. To date few of these studies have been carried out on kiwifruit. Detailed measurements of water extraction were made beneath two 7 year old kiwifruit vines. Under-vine covers were used on these vines to exclude rainfall and irrigation. Measurements of fruit size and leaf water potential were made on the two covered vines and on adjacent irrigated vines. In addition, solar radiation and air temperature were monitored in the orchard block. In concurrent studies, the root distribution of vines in the orchard were determined and heat pulse measurements of sapflow were made. The water extraction pattern showed little variation with depth to the maximum depth of measurement (2.2 m). There was, however, considerable variation in extraction with horizontal distance away from the vine. This variation may be explained in terms of the root distribution. The soil volume may be divided into the zone of occupation, in which the soil is completely occupied by the plant roots, and the zone of exploration, which is the volume of soil in which there are a few roots but the soil is still largely unexplored. Within the zone of occupation, water is uniformly extracted despite variation in root density. Water appears to be extracted from the zone of exploration primarily by flow of water towards the zone of occupation, where the soil water potential is lower. The fruit volume and leaf water potential measurements were used to indicate the onset of water-stress. At this time, soil water potential in the zone of occupation was between -40 and -50 kPa. The size of the reservoir of readily availible water was found to be at least 2.1 m 3 for 7 year old vines, and is projected to rise to a maximum of at least 6.5 m3 in three or so years in this orchard. Whereas the vine canopy may, by management, mature in 3 years, the root system may take 10 years to mature, so irrigation requirements of young vines will be higher than for mature vines. This is contrary to common assumptions made in standard methods for designing horticultural irrigation systems and is due to changes in the size of the reservoir rather than changes in the rate of water use. When there is radial variation in water extraction it is important to take account of the variation when calculating volumes of water extracted from the soil. The rate of water use by the vines, as estimated by the water balance method and the heat pulse technique, was found to be considerably lower than that predicted by the equilibrium evapotranspiration rate. This may be due to experimental error, and further work is required to clarify this matter

The impact of under-vine management on the weed seedbank in the soil

The evaluation of the weed seedbank in the soil was carried out in 2013 and 2014 in the Žabčice vineyard. Within the frame of maintenance management, three methods of under-vine management were proposed: untreated control, chemical and mechanical method of weed management. 23 plant species were identified in the soil samples from the place below the grapevine. The obtained data were evaluated by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Seeds of the species Amaranthus sp., Chenopodium album, Stellaria media, and Portulaca oleracea were the most common in all variants. Soil samples from the variant of mechanical weed management were the richest from the perspective of species. This variant also contained the smallest number of seeds per m2 of soil.O

Italy from 1939

Over the seven decades considered in the chapter, the Italian wine industry has changed dramatically, from a dispersed production system mainly oriented to self- consumption of supply and the local market with low- value wines, to a modern industry able to satisfy an increasingly demanding domestic supply and very competitive international markets with a wide range of wines. The current situation is the result of a long process driven by many factors, acting inside and outside the sector, and mainly national and EU policies and changing domestic and international demand. The evolution of the sector happened in four different phases, marked by different drivers and characteristics. Each period is described focusing on grape growing, wine making, domestic consumption, exports and policies affecting the industry

Inoculation of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Under-Vine Cover Crops for Sustainable Vineyards Development

Mestrado em Engenharia de Viticultura e Enologia. Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de CiênciasViticulture is a major economic sector in Europe. However, the raise of new challenges, such as the new regulations towards a limitation on the use of several agrochemicals, to new market demands, and to environmental and climatic awareness, forces adaptations on viticulture practices. Shift to sustainable vineyard management practices, such as the use of cover crops and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), plant mutualistic fungi, represent an attractive approach to respond to some of the challenges of modern viticulture. In this work, the benefits of the installation of cover crops as an eco-friendly soil management technique, with special attention to under-vine cover crops are reviewed. In addition, the advantages of AMF to improve agroecosystem functions and to promote higher grapevine performance will be reviewed. On the one hand, cover crops are widely known to prevent erosion, enhance soil physical and chemical properties, including nutrient cycles, as well as soil biological diversity and activity. Furthermore, the installation of cover crops in vineyards may improve grapevine nutritional status, control their vigour, and can prevent pests and diseases by providing food and shelter to antagonists of insect pests, nematodes, and pathogens. On the other hand, AMF improve grapevine nutrition, growth, and tolerance against a variety of biotic and abiotic stress factors, such as root diseases, water stress, soil salinity, and heavy metals toxicity. The mycorrhizal extraradical mycelium that extends in the soil also contributes to ameliorate soil properties such as particle aggregation, water retention, and soil stability. Using herbaceous plants as cover crops in vineyards favours the development of AMF, and therefore, the inoculation of AMF in under-vine cover crops can represent a novel sustainable soil management practice for vineyards with low propagule content or facing soil degradation.A viticultura é um setor economico importante na Europa. No entanto, a viticultura vê a necessidade de se adaptar a novos desafios, tais como novas regulamentações para a limitação do uso de vários agroquímicos, novas demandas do mercado e a crescente consciência ambiental e climática. A mudança da viticultura para práticas sustentáveis de gestão da vinha, como o uso de culturas de cobertura e fungos micorrízicos arbusculares (FMA), fungos mutualísticos das plantas, representam uma abordagem atraente para responder a alguns dos desafios da viticultura moderna. Por um lado, as culturas de cobertura são amplamente conhecidas por prevenir a erosão, melhorar as propriedades físicas e químicas do solo, incluindo os ciclos de nutrientes, bem como a diversidade e atividade biológica do solo. Além disso, a instalação de plantas de cobertura nos vinhedos pode melhorar o estado nutricional da videira, controlar seu vigor e prevenir pragas e doenças, fornecendo alimento e abrigo para antagonistas de pragas de insetos, nematoides e patogénicos. Por outro lado, os FMA melhoram a nutrição, o crescimento e a tolerância da videira contra uma variedade de fatores de estresse biótico e abiótico, como doenças das raízes, estresse hídrico, salinidade do solo e toxicidade de metais pesados. O micélio extrarradicular micorrízico que se estende no solo também contribui para melhorar as propriedades do solo, como agregação de partículas, retenção de água e estabilidade do solo. O uso de plantas herbáceas como plantas de cobertura em vinhedos favorece o desenvolvimento de FMA e, portanto, a inoculação de FMA em plantas de cobertura sob a linha da vinha pode representar uma nova prática de manejo sustentável do solo para vinhedos com baixo teor de propágulos ou em degradação do solo. Neste trabalho, são revistos os benefícios da instalação de plantas de cobertura como uma técnica de manejo do solo sustentável, com especial atenção às plantas de cobertura localizadas na linha das videiras. Além disso, as vantagens de FMA para melhorar as funções do agroecossistema e promover o melhor desempenho da videira serão revisadas.N/

Organic mulches as an alternative to conventional under-vine weed management in Mediterranean irrigated vineyards

Vineyard growth and grape yield can be significantly reduced by weeds, especially when these are located in the under-vine zone. Traditional weed management consists of recurrent tillage, which is associated with soil erosion and high fuel consumption, or herbicide applications, associated with damage to the environment and human health. In order to find alternative weed management methods, three field trials were carried out in Raimat (Lleida, NE Spain) with the aim of evaluating the suppressive effect of four mulches against weeds. Treatments included (1) straw mulch of Medicago sativa L., (2) straw mulch of Festuca arundinacea (L.) Schreb, (3) straw mulch of Hordeum vulgare L., (4) chopped pine wood mulch of Pinus sylvestris L., (5) mechanical cultivation and (6) herbicide application. The results showed that all mulches were efficient at controlling weeds (<20% of weed coverage) in the first year, compared with the two traditional methods, as long as the percentage of soil covered by mulches was high (>75%). In this way, pine mulch stood out above the straw mulches, as it achieved high soil cover during the three growing seasons of the study (>80%), with weed coverage values under 18%. This, together with the multiple benefits of mulches (improvements in the water balance and increases in soil organic matter, among others), make them a sustainable tool to be considered as an alternative to traditional under-vine weed management in vineyards.This work has been supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the project AGL2017-83325-C4-2-R, and also by MACMHER "Grups Operatius" promoted by the Department of Agriculture of the Catalan Government (DARP) in 2018. The first author obtained a PhD grant from the University of Lleida (PhD grants)