RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Grape Yield and Quality Response to Cover Crops and Amendments in a Vineyard in Nova Scotia, Canada
JF American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
JO Am. J. Enol. Vitic.
FD American Society for Enology and Viticulture
SP ajev.2015.15013
DO 10.5344/ajev.2015.15013
A1 Aime J. Messiga
A1 Kyle S. Gallant
A1 Mehdi Sharifi
A1 Andrew Hammermeister
A1 Keith Fuller
A1 Martin Tango
A1 Sherry Fillmore
YR 2015
UL http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2015/10/29/ajev.2015.15013.abstract
AB Increasing cost of synthetic fertilizers combined with their associate environmental impacts and yield instability have promoted the use of local waste products and cover crops in vineyards. We assessed the effects of cover crop mixtures combined with organic and industrial wastes on grape yield and quality in two full growing seasons in a vineyard (Vitis vinifera) in Eastern Canada. The experimental treatments were arranged in a nested design with three replicates. Four cover crop mixtures: i) oats+pea+hairy vetch (OPV), (ii) oats mixed with with red clover (ORCl), (iii) timothy+alsike+red clover (TM), and (iv) control with no cover crop (CONT) were applied to main plots and five fertility treatments [fertilizer without N (NDEF), full synthetic fertilizer (FERT), wood ash (WA), municipal solid food waste (MSFW), and mussel sediment (MS)] to sub-plots. During the second growing season, only half of the sub-plots received fertility treatments. Grape yield for the most productive cover crops and amendments combinations were in the order of ORCl × MS (9.52 Mg/ha) > OPV × MSFW (9.49 Mg/ha) > TM × WA (8.81 Mg/ha) > ORCl × MSFW (8.28 Mg/ha). The lowest grape yields were obtained with combinations of CONT with either NDEF (3.86 Mg/ha) or WA (3.61 Mg/ha). The highest berry sugar contents among the cover crops were obtained under TM floor management combined with NDEF (16.43 Brix), MS (16.03 Brix), and MSFW (15.98 Brix). Grape yield was only affected by cover crops during the second growing season, but not berry sugar content. Cover crop floor management strategies and organic or industrial wastes can be used as sources of nutrients or soil conditioners for vineyards in cool humid climate of Eastern Canada.