Deficit irrigation in Mediterranean environment. What lessons have we learnt fr...

• Autor(es): Chaves, M.M. ; Zarrouk, O. ; Francisco, R. ; Costa, J.M. ; Santos, T. ; Regalado, A.P. ; Rodrigues, M.L. ; Lopes, C.
• Data: 2010
• Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/5507
• Origem: Repositório da UTL
• Assunto(s): deficit irrigation; grapevine; Mediterranean environment
• Tipo de Documento: Documento de conferência
• Idioma: Inglês

Descrição

Libro de Actas - X Simposium Hispano Português de Relaciones Hidricas, 2010 Deficit irrigation techniques, implying that water is supplied at levels below full crop evapotranspiration throughout the growing season or in specific phenological stages, such as regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) or partial root drying (PRD), emerged as potential strategies to increase water savings with marginal decreases of yield and likely positive impact on fruit quality. Understanding the physiological and molecular bases for plant responses to mild to moderate water deficits is of utmost importance to modulate the appropriate balance between vegetative and reproductive development, to improve crop water-use efficiency and to control fruit quality. It is acknowledged that the timing and intensity of the response to soil and atmospheric water deficits, namely in what concerns stomatal control, depends greatly on the genotype. This has profound implications in irrigation management, in particular the timing and amount of irrigation to optimize source-sink relationships and achieve optimal fruit quality in each variety. Mild water deficits also exert direct and/or indirect (via the light environment in the cluster zone) effects on berry development and composition. A current research challenge is determining how the environment, in particular water deficits, regulates genes and proteins of the various metabolic pathways responsible for berry composition and therefore for wine quality