Application of a Daily Crop Water Stress Index to Deficit Irrigate Malbec Grapevine under Semi-Arid Conditions

Krista C. Shellie and Bradley A. King
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Krista C. Shellie: USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Research Unit (retired), Corvallis, OR 97330, USA
Bradley A. King: USDA-ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID 83341, USA

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Precision irrigation of wine grape is hindered by the lack of an automated method for monitoring vine water status. The objectives of this study were to: Validate an automated model for remote calculation of a daily crop water stress index ( CWSI ) for the wine grape ( Vitis vinifera L.) cultivar Malbec and evaluate its suitability for use in irrigation scheduling. Vines were supplied weekly with different percentages of evapotranspiration-based estimated water demand (ET c ) over four growing seasons. In the fifth growing season, different daily CWSI threshold values were used to trigger an irrigation event that supplied 28 mm of water. All three indicators of vine water status ( CWSI , midday leaf water potential (Ψ lmd ), and juice carbon isotope ratio (δ 13 C)) detected an increase in stress severity as the irrigation amount decreased. When the irrigation amount decreased from 100% to 50% ET c , 70% to 35% ET c , or the daily CWSI threshold value increased from 0.4 to 0.6, berry fresh weight and juice titratable acidity decreased, juice δ 13 C increased, the weekly CWSI increased, and Ψ lmd decreased. Under the semi-arid conditions of this study, utilizing a daily CWSI threshold for irrigation scheduling reduced the irrigation amount without compromising the yield or changes in berry composition and remotely provided automated decision support for managing water stress severity in grapevine.

Keywords: deficit irrigation; vine water status; water potential; water stress; berry composition; carbon isotope ratio (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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