The Effect of Irrigation Amount and Drip Irrigation Methods on Growth, Yield and Quality of Wine Grape

Abstract

【Background】 The eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia is thought to be one of the most suitable “golden zones” for wine grape in the world, and a large-scale grape cultivation corridor has been proposed to be built with drip irrigation tipped as the most suitable irrigation method in this region. While the benefits of different drip irrigation methods to grape growth have been studied, most of them focused on comparison with traditional furrow irrigations under different irrigation amounts. In contrast, there is a paucity of studies on how different drip irrigation methods and irrigation amounts combine to affect wine grape growth and the fruit quality. 【Objective】 Considering gravel texture of the soil in this region, this paper is to plug this gap in attempts to find the most suitable irrigation amount and drip irrigation system for industrial-scale production of wine-grape in this region. In particular, we focus on how different drip irrigation methods and irrigation amounts impact growth, yield and quality of the wine grape. 【Method】 The experiment was conducted in a field, and it considered three factors: mulching, drip irrigation method and irrigation amount. Combining the first two factors, there were three irrigation methods: drip irrigation without mulching (A1), drip irrigation above the mulching film (A2) and drip irrigation underneath the mulching film. Added to these three irrigation methods were three irrigation amounts: high (W1), middle (W2) and low (W3). Overall, there were nine treatments which were designed using the randomized block experiment. In each treatment, we measured growth, photosynthesis, yield and fruit quality of the wine grape. 【Result】 Both mulched drip irrigation and increasing irrigation amount can promote growth and development of the wine grape, with the average new shoot length and stem diameter increasing by 4.49% and 6.77%, respectively, compared to drip irrigation without mulch. With irrigation amount increasing, both the 100-fruit weight and yield of the grape increased gradually, with average yield of the drip irrigation underneath and above the film increasing by 48.26% and 20.26% respectively, compared to irrigation without mulch. The sugar acid ratio of the grape irrigated underneath the film was in the range of 35.23~43.32, more reasonable than those under other drip irrigation methods. 【Conclusion】 With annual rainfall of only 126.3 mm, irrigating 2 295 m3/hm2 of water in 5~7 times with the much film covering the drip emitters is optimal for growth, yield and quality of the wine grape grown in the gravel soils in eastern foot of the Helan Mountain.

Keywords

• eastern foot of the helan mountain
• wine grape
• drip irrigation
• irrigation amount
• film mulching