Journal
AGRICULTURE-BASEL
Volume 11, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/agriculture11020095
Keywords
perennial cropping systems; grape production; medicinal and aromatic plants; grapevine yield; must quality; experimental design
Categories
Funding
- European Commission Horizon 2020 project Diverfarming [728003]
- H2020 Societal Challenges Programme [728003] Funding Source: H2020 Societal Challenges Programme
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The study investigated the effects of intercropping grapevine with aromatic plants on crop diversification, grapevine yield, must quality, soil water and mineral nutrients. The results showed that topsoil was more affected by intercropping than subsoil, with significant differences in grapevine yield and must quality being dominantly attributable to climate variables rather than treatments.
The effects of intercropping grapevine with aromatic plants are investigated using a multi-disciplinary approach. Selected results are presented that address the extent to which crop diversification by intercropping impacts grapevine yield and must quality, as well as soil water and mineral nutrients (NO3-N, NH4-N, plant-available K and P). The experimental field was a commercial steep-slope vineyard with shallow soils characterized by a high presence of coarse rock fragments in the Mosel area of Germany. The field experiment was set up as randomized block design. Rows were either cultivated with Riesling (Vitis vinifera L.) as a monocrop or intercropped with Origanum vulgare or Thymus vulgaris. Regarding soil moisture and nutrient levels, the topsoil (0-0.1 m) was more affected by intercropping than the subsoil (0.1-0.3 m). Gravimetric moisture was consistently lower in the intercropped topsoil. While NO3-N was almost unaffected by crop diversification, NH4-N, K, and P were uniformly reduced in topsoil. Significant differences in grapevine yield and must quality were dominantly attributable to climate variables, rather than to the treatments. Yield stabilization due to intercropping with thyme and oregano seems possible with sufficient rainfall or by irrigation. The long-term effects of intercropping on grapevine growth need further monitoring.
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