ChileanJAR

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of different levels of pruning and water application on vegetative growth, yield and berry composition of grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.), located in Pencahue Valley, Maule Region, Chile (35º22' S lat; 71º47' W long), during the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 growing seasons. The cultivar used was a 10 yr-old Cabernet Sauvignon, drip irrigated and trained on a vertical shoot positioned system. Pruning levels were 12, 18 and 24 buds per plant. Irrigation levels applied were 40, 70 and 100% of real evapotranspiration of the vineyard (ETv) from setting to harvest. Results showed that increasing pruning severity resulted in a decrease in the Ravaz index from 4.3 to 2.9 in the first season, and a severe reduction of yield (between 41 and 53%) in both seasons. Only in the second season, did the reduction in the water application decrease the yield from 3.0 to 1.8 kg pl^-1 and increase the total anthocyanin content in berries from 1290 to 1520 mg L^-1. There was no significant interaction between pruning and irrigation levels for any of the seasons under evaluation.