COVER CROPS in South African Vineyards

COVER CROPS IN SOUTH AFRICAN VINEYARDS

Wild barley ( Hordeum murinum ) Wild or false barley is an annual grass fromWestern and Southern Europe, and Southeast Asia. It has spread to many countries, and occurs in the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape in South Africa. It grows in a tussock and has slanted stems. Plants can reach a height of 60 centimetres. The lower leaf- sheaths are mostly sparsely covered with hairs, but the upper ones are hairless. The leaf-blades are either sparsely hairy or hairless, and the inflorescence is a dense, bristly spike, resembling an ear of barley or wheat.

FIGURE 3.27. Wild barley ( Hordeum murinum ). (Photos: ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij & Anna Mouton). Reference list Fourie JC. 2018. Weed species suitable for cover-crop management in vineyards. Wineland October, 83–85. Alternative cover crops Creeping saltbush ( Atriplex semibaccata ) Creeping saltbush is native to Australia, but has spread to many other coun- tries, including SouthAfrica.This perennial broadleaf species occurs frequent- ly in vineyards and is known locally as ‘rooipitjiebrak’. A trial of creeping saltbush as a cover crop was carried out over four years at the ARC In- fruitec-Nietvoorbij research farm near Robertson in the Breede River valley. The seeds were sown in both micro-sprinkler- and drip-irrigated vineyards at a density of 15 kilograms per hectare at the beginning of September, as saltbush does not establish successfully in April. In three out of four years, they were not irrigated in either September or October, but were nonetheless able to establish.

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