Regional sustainability in table grape production on saline soils

Abstract

A study was done in South Africa to investigate the state of the soil salt content and its effect on plant growth on a regional rather than a point basis. The study site went through a development phase since 1996 of establishing new vineyards each year. This provided an excellent opportunity to investigate soil characteristics, plant vigour and their relationship since the start of development. Soil samples were taken and trunk circumferences were measured. The soil properties included in the investigation were soil clay percentage, EC_e, soil pH value and time since initial irrigation. Exploratory data analyses were done and variograms were drawn for all data. Kriging was used to map the variables and multiple regression analysis was used to investigate their relationships on a regional basis.