Use of coverage plants in vine culture: effects in soil and plant

Abstract

Soil quality must guarantee multiple functionalities, maintaining productivity, biodiversity, and environmental health. Responsible management practices and crop coverage are essential to reducing inputs and ensuring sustainability and agricultural quality. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of using different cover crops on the Bordô grapevine crop. The project was carried out in Flores da Cunha, Rio Grande do Sul, in a Bordô grape vineyard. The experiment area is 664 m². Without irrigation, the vines are grown on a trellis system with Paulsen 1103 rootstock. Four cover crop treatments were tested: mix (forage turnip, white oat, rye), white oats, rye, and spontaneous plants. Each treatment used a line of plants, with 12 evaluated each, divided into four plots (replications) of five plants. The production of fresh and dry matter of cover crops, soil compaction through resistance to penetration, chlorophyll index, leaf nutrient content, average bunch weight, number of bunches per plant, soluble solids content, and vine productivity were assessed. The fresh and dry matter of the cover crops was higher in the consortium of white oats, rye, and fodder radish. Furthermore, treatment with a consortium of cover crops significantly reduced soil resistance to penetration. Nitrogen, magnesium, boron, and manganese were at normal levels in the leaves, calcium was insufficient, and phosphorus, zinc, copper, and iron were excessive. Chlorophyll a was higher in treatments with intercropping and rye. The use of cover crops significantly increased productivity but did not affect grape quality in the first year of implementation. Therefore, using cover crops, intercropping with white oats, rye, and forage turnip provides a better root environment, resulting in a gain in productivity.