|
 |
 |
Gigondas - Field Demonstration |
|
||
 |
||
Gigondas - Side by Side treatment, Left is alternative treatment, Right is conventional treatment. (find out more about the treatments) |
||
| Since autumn 2001, an area spanning eight complete vine rows and 79m in length, has been used for the demonstration of two soil management techniques and their effect on soil and runoff losses. Three consecutive inter-rows are being subjected to conventional management practices, and three are being subjected to an alternative – a permanent cover of carefully selected grass species (30% English rye grass, 50% creeping red fescue and 20% chewing red fescue, sold commercially as Agro Plan 20); managed using a combination of mechanical mowing and chemical desiccation. A grassed inter-row has been instated as a buffer between the two treatments. | ||
| The central inter-row of each treatment is hydraulically isolated at the top by the watershed and at the sides by the ridges on which the vines sit. At the bottom, a funnel is used to transfer the sediment and runoff leaving the plot to a collection system where it can be quantified. Sampling is carried out manually and does not take place after every rainfall event but field conditions experienced during each sampling period are recorded using an automatic weather station. | ||
| As monitoring has been taking place since the point of treatment installation, it has been possible to identify areas which require further improvement and timescales over which individual benefits can be seen. | ||
| Soil moisture profile probes were installed in both treatments in 2005. It is proposed that the data collected from these probes will be used to calculate treatment effects on water availability to plants and rate of water movement through the soil profile in response to rainfall events. The results will show which soil management practice induces the greatest level of water stress on the vines, a subject which is of great interest to farmers. | ||
Ceri Llewellyn (NSRI) |
||
 |
© Syngenta 2005 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|