Effects of irrigation on the vigour, yield and berry composition of the red variety Touriga Nacional at the Dão winegrowing region, Portugal

Proceedings - 17 th International Symposium GIESCO, Asti, Italy, 2011In a field trial installed at the Centro de Estudos Vitivinícolas do Dão, Nelas, Portugal, the effect of three irrigation treatments on the agronomic behaviour of cv Touriga Nacional (Vitis vinifera L.) were studied during three growing seasons (2006-2008). Three irrigation treatments (DI30 - irrigation with 30% of ETc; DI50 - irrigation with 50% ETc, FI - full irrigation – 100% Etc) were compared to a control non-irrigated treatment (NI). Compared to NI, the deficit irrigation treatments (DI30 & DI50) showed no significant differences on the yield and its components. The full irrigation treatment induced a significantly higher yield due to a higher bunch weight, as compared with the others treatments. Compared to the control, the deficit irrigation treatments presented similar berry composition during all the three seasons. The FI treatment presented, in all seasons, a significantly higher total acidity and a significantly lower Brix and total anthocyanins concentration as compared to the other treatments. The pruning weight and shoot weight increased with the amount of irrigation water applied, but significant differences were found only between the FI and the NI treatments, the last presenting the lowest values. Despite the fact that in the non-irrigated vineyards of the Dão winegrowing region it is very common to observe vine water stress symptoms, mainly during the ripening period, during the three studied seasons (2006-2008), the deficit irrigation treatments showed no advantages relatively to the control non-irrigated. Despite the higher yield produced in the full irrigation, this treatment had the disadvantages of the excessive vine vigour and lower must quality produced