Table grapes

Elaborated by our specialists, Yara's fertilizer program for table grape can help you to achieve excellent crop performance.

Elaborated by our specialists, Yara's fertilizer program for table grape can help you to achieve excellent crop performance.

The aim of any producer is a high yielding, quality crop that satisfies the end user. There are a large number of viticultural factors which can influence this, many are within the control of the grower, under given climatic and soil conditions.

Table grape production can be limited by weed competition, diseases infection, and insects and nematodes infestation.

Cover crops are grown to prevent wind or soil erosion especially on sandy soils.

Fertilizer application strategies mainly include rate and time of application. Different amount (rate) and forms of fertilizers are applied using a number of methods according to specific needs of crop at a specific growth stage (time).

Table grape production generally requires 400 –1350 mm (4 000 – 13 500 m3/ha) of available water per year depending upon climate, soil, variety, etc. to achieve maximum productivity.

Quality standards vary between countries. Many have been established as a result of local preference, taste and tradition.

Nitrogen form is important to nitrogen-availability. Organic manures, while helping to improve soil structure and fertility, may be unpredictable in the way they release nitrogen.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, iron and zinc.

Physical manipulation is essential to maintain the correct crop load for the locality and growing conditions and bringing a good quality crop to harvest at the right time.

Worldwide production of table grape and wine grape exceeds 69 million tons over 90 different countries on a total area of 7.06 million hectares in year 2011.

High yield of table grape is obtained on the most freely drained soils where nutrients and water are sufficiently available. Table grape grows across a wide range of soils, from sands to clays, that can be of high or low fertility.

In order to influence the production of higher table grape yields the farmer will need to control the number of grape bunches and grape berry weight.

Physical or chemical crop manipulation is important to ensuring even berry size and consistent maturity to meet market specifications.

Table grape quality standards vary between countries. Many have been established as a result of local preference, taste and tradition. Maintaining high sugars and a juicy berry by manipulating the time of maturity is important for marketability.

One of the most important quality factors for table grape, which determines the eating quality, is skin firmness.

Sweetness of the grape berry is expressed as the sugar/acid ratio.

One important quality factor influencing table grape quality is table grape juice content.

Most consumers seek a large, evenly sized grape bunch of consistent appearance.

It is important to prevent deterioration of fruit quality after harvesting and assure long shelf life of the crop.

Deficiency of any essential nutrient can hinder growth and development of a crop. Well-nourished crops are generally more tolerant of diseases compared with sub-optimally nourished crops.

Bunch stem necrosis is a disorder known under many different names. It can occur around flowering or at veraison, sometimes even later in the season.

Zinc deficiency limits healthy growth of the crop. It plays an essential role in the cell multiplication process.

Botrytis is a disorder that can affect flowers, leaves, shoots and the fruit itself.