Handbook for Irrigation of Wine Grapes in South Africa

Chapter 1

also cover the maintenance of existing and new weather stations. It must be noted that the weather elements are recorded automatically, and that maintenance is carried out manually. Furthermore, electronic instrumentation does not last forever and should be replaced where and when necessary. Based on the foregoing, it is critical that every weather station must be inspected regularly and repaired to avoid incomplete, unreliable data sets. Given the advantages of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification compared to the seemingly less sensitive viticultural indices, it should be adopted by the wine industry. Furthermore, the ideal situation would be if a viticultural and/or wine quality index could be linked to the Köppen-Geiger classification. Linking grapevine water requirements in more detail to the latter classification would also be useful for irrigation planning and management. It seems that grapevines will undergo physical changes in response to climate change. Therefore, it could be that moderate climate changes might not be as critical to the physiological functioning of grapevines as expected. However, it is essential to determine in what way grapevines will adapt, as well as to identify rootstock cultivars and economically viable scion that will be able to adapt more readily than others.

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