Water use and the development of seasonal crop coefficients for Superior Seedless grapevines trained to an open-gable trellis system

Yishai Netzer, Chongren Yao, Moshe Shenker, Ben Ami Bravdo, Amnon Schwartz*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

111 Scopus citations

Abstract

Water consumption of table grapevines (Vitis vinifera cv. Superior Seedless) trained to a large open-canopy gable system was measured during six growing seasons (1999, 2001-2005) using 12 drainage lysimeters. The lysimeters (1.3 m3 each) were installed as part of a one-hectare vineyard in a semi-arid region in southern Israel. Water consumption of the lysimeter-grown vines (ETc) was used as the basis for the calculation of irrigation applications in the vineyard. Three irrigation treatments, 80% (high), 60% (medium) and 40% (low) of ETc of the lysimeter-grown vines, were applied in the vineyard. Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was calculated from regional meteorological data according to the Penman-Monteith equation. Seasonal curves for the crop coefficient (K c) were calculated as K c = ETc/ETo. Maximum ET c values in different seasons ranged from 7.26 to 8.59 mm day -1 and seasonal ETc (from DOY 91 through DOY 304) ranged from 1,087 to 1,348 mm over the six growing seasons. Leaf area index (LAI) was measured monthly using the SunScan Canopy Analysis System. Maximum LAI ranged from 4.2 to 6.2 m2 m-2 for the 2002-2005 seasons. A second-order polynomial curve relating K c to LAI (R2 = 0.907, P < 0.0001) is proposed as the basis for efficient irrigation management. The effects of the irrigation treatments on canopy growth and yield are presented. The high ETc and K c values that were observed are explained by the wide canopy layout that characterize the large open-gable trellis system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)109-120
Number of pages12
JournalIrrigation Science
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Mr. Amram Hazan for his assistance and for oVering his agronomic expertise and Y. Cohen for operating the lysimeters. This study was supported by Israeli Ministry of Agriculture Project No. 826-047-05, by the Israeli table grape growers association and by the Eugene and Edith Schoenberger foundation.

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