Local organic and inorganic amendments to improve table grape production in Mediterranean vineyards of southern Türkiye

OpenAlex İngilizce

In the Mediterranean Region, calcareous soils are generally considered to be of low fertility. The use of large amounts of chemicals and irrigation to compensate for low productivity reduces the producer’s net profit and degrades physical and chemical properties of the soils. As a result, the selection of adaptable genotypes is important in agriculturally limited lands. Grapevine is one of the leading crops in the Mediterranean Basin due to its high tolerance to abiotic conditions. However, the fact that the grapevine grows in extreme soils does not mean that such crop does not respond to a good nutritional program, especially to the natural amendments. In this research, natural organic and inorganic soil amendments were tested on “Prima” grape cultivar grown in calcareous soils of the Mediterranean Basin, with the aim of developing environmentally friendly and cost-effective nutrition recommendations. Basaltic pumice (P), cereal straw (S), commercial dried compost (DC), grapevine pruning residue (PR), and farm cattle manure (FM) were used alone or in different combinations. The combination of P+PR+FM produced the best results for yield, cluster weight, and berry weight. However, it also resulted in the highest acidity and the lowest ripening index (total soluble solids/acidity). The highest ripening index values were obtained from S+FM and PR+FM applications. The treatments did not have different effects on total sugars, organic acids, and malvidin-3 glucoside anthocyanin, a relatively abundant component in V. vinifera grapes. However, P+PR+FM resulted in significantly higher levels of ascorbate peroxidase and total amino acids. The highest total anthocyanins were shown by DC, P+DC, and P+PR+FM. The results of the work demonstrated that the uses of different mixtures of natural and readily available materials have positive and diverse effects on grape quantity and quality in Mediterranean calcareous soils where vine is widely cultivated.