Vegetative and Reproductive Behaviour of Vitis vinifera L. (cv. ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’) Vines Growing Under Non-Irrigated Conditions and Moderate Water Stress Induced by Different Irrigation Systems

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of different levels of water stress and different irrigation systems to the vegetative and reproductive behaviour of Cabernet Sauvignon ines/140Ru, vertically trained, during the growing season 2003-2004. The vineyard was located in Sicily (in the south of Italy); the soil was loamy-sand and the climate semi-arid. Were compared five treatments: four treatments irrigated, maintaining a moderate water stress level, by drip irrigation (T1) and sub-irrigation (T2, T3 and T4) and one treatment non-irrigated (T5). The sub-irrigation treatments were different by the number and the distance of the water tubes by the rows of vines. The results showed that, in a loamysand soil and in a semi-arid region as Sicily, irrigation with a moderate water stress level has a better combination of grape quality and yield than no irrigation. Irrigated vines had higher water use efficiency with sub-irrigation systems; moreover it seems that distributing water further away from the rows (T3 and T4) stimulate higher reproductive activity than distributing water below the rows (T2).