Rootstocks for the new seedless table grape ‘BRS Vitória’ under tropical semi-arid conditions of São Francisco Valley

Abstract

‘BRS Vitoria’ is the most important Brazilian table grape cultivar in the domestic and foreign markets, standing out for the seedleness, pleasant flavor, high yield and mildew resistance. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of the rootstock on the yield, production components, vigor, and physical and chemical characteristics of the ‘BRS Vitória’ grape under irrigation in the Brazilian semi-arid region. The experiment was conducted over eight consecutive production cycles in the period from 2015 to 2018 in a commercial area in the Senador Nilo Coelho project, Petrolina, PE. The treatments were represented by seven rootstocks: ‘IAC 572’, ‘IAC 766’, ‘IAC 313’, ‘Harmony’, ‘SO4’, ‘Paulsen 1103’, and ‘Freedom’, using a randomized block experimental design with four replications. The results were variable among production cycles, with significant effects of the rootstock in some cycles and/or in the overall mean of the cycles. The variables of pruning weight, sprouting, bud fertility, and titratable acidity were not affected by the rootstock in any of the production cycles evaluated in this study. ‘Harmony’ rootstock promoted greater berry mass and diameter but reduced the soluble solids content. Vines of ‘BRS Vitória’ showed moderate vigor, high bud fertility and yield, satisfactory characteristics of bunch and berry, sugars and acids content that meet the requirements of the most demanding markets in all the rootstocks evaluated in this study.

Agronomic performance of ‘BRS Melodia’ seedless table grape grafted onto different rootstocks

“…The results obtained differed from those observed in this same region for 'BRS Vitória' on different rootstocks, where there was no significant effect of rootstocks on grapevine yield; the grapevines achieved 22.0 t·ha -1 only from the fifth production cycle on (Leão et al 2020b). The 'BRS Melodia' can reach mean yields of 25 t·ha -1 as of the second production cycle under tropical conditions when the grapevines remain at rest 60 to 70 days to restore reserves (Ritschel et al 2021).…”

“…The rootstocks IAC 572 and IAC 313 led to development of berries with a diameter within the values recommended for commercialization of in the four production cycles evaluated (Ritschel et al 2021). Similar to the results found in this study, other table grape cultivars, such as 'Flame Seedless' (Ibacache et al 2016), 'Thompson Seedless' (Martinez et al 2017), and 'BRS Vitória' (Leão et al 2020b), also exhibited values of berry diameter suitable for commercialization for all the rootstocks studied. Mean values followed by the same lowercase letters in the column comparing rootstocks and uppercase letters in the row comparing production cycles do not differ by Tukey's test (p < 0.05); CV: coefficient of variation.…”

“…Therefore, the rootstock IAC 572 not only led to an increase in the yield and number of clusters, but also increased berry size, which differs from what was observed in the cultivar 'BRS Vitória' , in which greater berry weight and size were obtained in rootstocks that induced a smaller mean number of clusters (Leão et al 2020c). Nevertheless, studies performed in other grapes, such as 'BRS Ísis' , 'BRS Núbia' , and 'Níagara Rosada' , did not confirm this trend in responses, but showed results similar to those of this study, in which rootstocks that led to an increase in berry weight and size were also the ones that favored a larger mean number of clusters per plant (Campos et al 2022, Leão et al 2020b). The rootstocks IAC 572 and IAC 766 are known as tropical rootstocks because they result from crosses made with the species Vitis caribaea, which has enhanced rooting as a characteristic (Embrapa 2023a).…”

“…In a Brazilian semi-arid climate, there were no significant differences for cluster weight, width, and length in the cultivars 'BRS Isis' and 'BRS Vitória' when grafted onto IAC 572 and IAC 766. However, the choice of other rootstocks, such as Harmony for 'BRS Ísis' or Paulsen 1103 for 'BRS Vitória' , reduced the size of the clusters (Leão et al 2020b(Leão et al , 2020c. These results once more show the important effect of the climate conditions and the management practices performed on each farm and growing location on the agronomic performance of the scion cultivar as a result of the rootstock.…”

Agronomic performance of table grape cultivars affected by rootstocks in semi-arid conditions

“…The results obtained in this trial showed that the rootstock affected each table grape cultivar in a different way, confirming a genotype-dependent response already shown in different studies conducted on table grape (Leão et al 2020a(Leão et al , 2020b, juice (Leão et al 2022), and wine Chaves 2019, 2021)…”