By Paula Rook
I recently published an introduction in the form of an e-book under the name: a sustainable wine world. The idea is to highlight subjects relevant for every nation commited to create an environment of estability for everyone. The issues related to the pandemy such as lack of freedom and working from home are hopefully positive for the ones who are only with computers producing information. Not all jobs can be executed at home such as selling, travelling, arts performances, sports activities. The last news around the world emphasizes a lower educational standards, less salaries and the risk of flex work emerging in economies who are not providing stability to their lifes.
Why does water management provide benefits for everyone? In case that a community lives in a area suffering drought to me makes sense to have knowledges about it. By using the information, the production of food and long term plans become less stressful. For this reason, I decide to summarize aspects of water management easy to apply now:
- Calculate Total transpirable soil water (TTSW), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) or sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), & improve soil structure before planting. How poor soil structure can arise?: compactation, excessive salinity, low concentration organic matter.
- Limit soil evaporation with surface mulches, decompacting soil regularly or grassing in the winter period. Avoid residuals rills and cracks or permanent grass on water-limited environment.
- Use micro or drip-irrigation systems to offset the effects of environmental stress. Additionally, use “fertigation” technologies. The irrigation design needs a soil characterisation and maintenance programme considering long-term temperature and rainfall predictions.
- Monitoring soil : matric potential, capacitance. Monitoring grapevine water status: leaf water potential, sattelite remote sensing which support aerial sensing; shoot-tip methode. Finally, the 12C/13C ratio, or δ13C, measured on sugars of musts at maturity.
- Meteorologically-based method: this methods tend to overestimate water needs.
- Use of water balance models: requires estimation of soil water holding capacity, rootzone characterization, and record and forecast daily efective rainfall and evapotranspiration.
- Schedule irrigation to prevent water losses at night-time, overcast and high-humidity. Evoid high-frecuency and low doses of water. Practice wash-out (leach) in winter with rainfall on a saline rootzone.
- Manage water stress by regulating the canopy exposure and crop load adapted to the specific demands of variety, planting system and seasonal conditions.
- Barriers: neeting protects agianst hail and wind. Winbreak protects from wind. Biodiversity has to be preserved.
- Polyclonal selection: perform better in regulating temperature.
- Use of diluted wastewater and urban wastewater.
Send your reaction to this summary to Paula Rook at paula@flyingwinewriter.com and submit your project on water management to be review & published on FlyingWineWriter.
