Sustainable Grape Productivity and the Growth-Yield Relationship: A Review

¹ Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 [email: howell@pilot.msu.edu

Research reports and experimental efforts during the last century are presented with the goal to encourage discussion of balancing grapevine fruit yield and vine growth and leaf area. Fruit and subsequent processed quality are equally relevant economic issues as we strive to create conditions for both sustainable grapevine productivity and vine capacity for tolerating abiotic and biotic stress episodes. It is proposed that methods to achieve vine balance will vary with regard to macroclimate and cultivar, but will be most critical for those macroclimates commonly called cool-climate regions. Regardless, vine balance is most readily understood when based on the principles of vine carbon balance as mediated through well-understood factors such as cm2 leaf area/gram fresh weight of fruit at harvest and allmetric practices as the Ravaz Index and the Growth-Yield Relationship.

Note:
Acknowledgments: The efforts reported here would not have been possible without the contributions of students and postdoctorates: Teresa Barros, Leah Clearwater, Charles Edson, Timothy Mansfield, Mike McLean, David Miller, Paul Petrie, Basil Stergios, Keith Streigler, Carmo Vasconcelos, and James Wolpert. The contributions of colleagues and friends are gratefully acknowledged: Peter Clingeleffer, James Flore, Werner Koblet, Alan Lakso, Justin Morris, Robert Pool, Nelson Shaulis, and Robert Wample. Encouragement and financial support by National Grape Cooperative, Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council, and Eastern Viticultural Consortium have made continued research possible. Commercial vineyards that allowed us to do research in their vineyard provided a great, valued trust. These include: Allegan County, Fenn Valley Vineyards; Berrien County, Dongvillow Vineyards and Tabor Hill Vineyards; Grand Traverse County, Chateau Chantal; Leelanau County, Boskydel Vineyard, Good Harbor Vineyards, and Leelanau Wine Cellars; and Van Buren County, Cronenwett Vineyards, Mohney Vineyards, and Bob Rogers’ Vineyard. Finally, I wish to express gratitude to those academic and research institutions that have fostered my understanding of viticulture: New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva; Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand; Forshugsanstalt fur Obst-Wein-und Gartenbau, Wadenswil, Switzerland; and my home institution for over 30 years, Michigan State University.

Key words: Vine balance, minimal pruning, leaf area, crop ratio, Ravaz Index, carbon balance, photosynthesis, vine yield, vine size, fruit maturation

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