FERTILISATION GUIDELINES FOR THE TABLE GRAPE INDUSTRY

1 INTRODUCTION

KOBUS LOUW

A manual providing guidelines for grape- vine fertilisation was published in 1994 (Conradie, 1994). This manual provided a solid basis for industry over the years, but after 20 years new local and international information has become available and must be made shared. So, the need to review the existing guidelines and to update it by incorporating new research results or per- spectives came about. In 2016, Winetech released a new set of fertiliser guidelines with a special wine focus. These guidelines are very similar to what was published by Conradie (1994) but incorporated substantial new information and was supported by the experience of a unique pool of expertise from South Africa. There was also a need to adapt and renew the guidelines for the table grape industry. The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) approached the group of experts who were involved in the development of the guidelines for the wine industry, and requested that they adapt they guidelines into a new manual with a specific focus on table grape production, with its unique requirements. They were also requested to include new research results.

10 | INTRODUCTION