FERTILISER GUIDELINES FOR THE WINE INDUSTRY

Introduction

A fertilisation guideline manual for vineyards was published in 1994 (Conradie, 1994). This manual provided a solid foundation for the industry, but inevitably after 20 years new information about fertilisation of vineyards has become available locally and internationally. The need therefore arose to revise the vineyard fertilisation manual of 1994 in order to incorporate new research results that have been released or views that have changed. Diverse recommendations within the wine industry, especially between various advising companies, which are based on diffe rent methods of analysis, norms and principles have emerged, prompting Winetech to justify this revision. This revision aims to bring about credible decision-making tools for producers and advisors that are in the best interest of the producer and are especially based on the findings of fertilisation trials. Many questions exist regarding the fertilisation of wine grapes and in particular the specific nutrient element requirements, which the 1994 vineyard fertilisation manual currently does not provide answers for. It is important that all advisors in the SA wine industry shall make fertilisation recommendations to producers based on the same scientific assumptions/facts. It is also important that everyone in the industry is brought up to date with the latest research information (locally and abroad), as well as practical knowledge and experience. This document can also serve as training material (module for vineyard nutrition) for all students in soil science and viticulture.

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