SARE 1999 Highlights

Growing Covers in Vineyards Improves Water Intake, Grape Quality

California researchers found cover crops control weeds, attract beneficial insects and improve water infiltration, providing more information to a wine grape industry trying to decide whether to grow between the rows. Photo by Jack Kelly Clark

Wine grape growers can get a leg up on the competition if they use cover crops, according to SARE-funded research in California's San Joaquin and Napa valleys that shows growing covers between vine rows improves grape quality. Cover crops improve grape sugar content, researchers theorize, by regulating water infiltration. While growers and researchers needed to irrigate more with cover crops, such covers as the oats, rye, vetch, red clover and subclovers used in the experiment helped water penetrate to improve the plants' water use efficiency. In addition, savings from reduced pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer inputs offset irrigation costs. The project found cover crops and cover crop mulches suppress weeds; in some plots, researchers measured a 40- to 50-percent reduction in pesticide use thanks to cover crops. The findings could prove significant for growers of California's leading crop, the $1.7-billion grape industry. Winery owners have invited researchers to speak to their growers about the benefits of cover crops, particularly regarding fruit quality, and are urging them to incorporate covers into their farming systems. [For more information about this Western Region project, go to www.sare.org/projects/ and search for SW95-012.]

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