1st International Symposium on Grapevine Roots
Abstract
Everard Edwards presented a paper entitled “The effects of sustained deficit irrigation and re-watering on root production and turnover in warm climate viticulture” at the 1st International Symposium on Grapevine Roots in Rauscedo, Italy. He also presented two posters, “Rootstock conferred vigour is a driver of crop water use efficiency” and “Investigating the genetic mechanisms of salinity tolerance in grapevine rootstocks” Attending the symposium provided an excellent opportunity for the author to keep abreast of current developments in grapevine root research, make/renew contacts that may facilitate future collaboration and emphasize the Australian expertise in this area to an international audience. In addition, the author's presence in Italy was utilised to make additional visits to potential research collaborators at the University of Bologna. A report on the symposium was provided to the Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker for future publication.
Summary
Dr Everard Edwards attended the 1st International Symposium on Grapevine Roots, Rauscedo, Italy, providing an oral presentation entitled “The effects of sustained deficit irrigation and re-watering on root production and turnover in warm climate viticulture” and two poster presentations: “Rootstock conferred vigour is a driver of crop water use efficiency” and “Investigating the genetic mechanisms of salinity tolerance in grapevine rootstocks”. Attendance at the symposium provided a valuable opportunity to hear about current developments in below-ground research relevant to Australian winegrape growing, as well as make/renew international contacts in that area and emphasize the Australian expertise in this area to an international audience. A summary of the symposium, based on the text in the next section of this report, was provided to the Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker for future publication. Key information presented at the symposium included: • The role of vine management in driving differences in biomass allocation between root and shoot; achieving vine balance requires consideration of the root system as well as the shoot. • A warning of the risk to viticulture in its reliance on a small number of rootstocks, with 90% of the worlds vines on only five rootstocks. • A review of methodology suitable to examine root systems, including methods using recent technology developments such as LIDAR. • The temporal disconnect between a vine’s ability to take up nitrogen from the soil, which is greatly reduced after veraison, and the ongoing requirement for nitrogen in the developing fruit. The travel included a visit to the Department of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Bologna. This provided valuable insights into current research in Italy on vine management, in particular the use of within-season canopy and crop adjustment to achieve a desired vine balance.