PERFORMANCE OF TWENTY VARIETIES OF GRAPE (Vitis vinifera L.) AND THE RESPONSE OF TWO VARIETIES TO THE APPLICATION OF FARM YARD MANURE, FERTILIZERS, TRAINING SYSTEMS AND PRUNING DATES

PERFORMANCE OF TWENTY VARIETIES OF GRAPE (Vitis vinifera L.) AND THE RESPONSE OF TWO VARIETIES TO THE APPLICATION OF FARM YARD MANURE, FERTILIZERS, TRAINING SYSTEMS AND PRUNING DATES

Abstract:

Three field experiments were conducted at the Ahmadu Bello University farm, Samaru from 1986 to 1993 to investigate the performance of twenty varieties of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) and response of two varieties to farm yard manure (FYM), fertilizers, training systems and pruning dates. Of the twenty varieties (namely Anab-e-shahi, Anab-e-shahi x American seedling, Bangalore blue, Black hamburg, Black rose, Black verico, Cardinal, Catawba, Concord, Gross coleman, Israel blue, Monaca sabo, Ex-Zaria black, Ex-Horticulture Samaru, Ex-Hospital, MKM-7, Ex-Maiduguri, Queen golden, Regina and Thompson Seedless), five varieties (namely Queen golden, Concord, MKM-7, Ex-Horticulture Samaru and Ex-Zaria black) have shown outstanding vegetative and reproductive characters. Queen golden, the highest yielder had very fast growing stems, long shoots, very high number of canes per vine, very high number of bunches per vine, very heavy bunch and a very high number of berries per bunch. Of the five varieties which gave the outstanding vegetative and reproductive characters, Concord and Ex-Horticulture Samaru may be suitably grown in the southern parts of Nigeria being also found to be resistant to both anthracnose and downy mildew. All the varieties gave a significant positive and negative correlation between yield and stem diameter, yield and fruit sugar percent, respectively. A significant positive correlation was also found between yield and shoot length, yield and weight of October pruned materia (summer pruned material), yield and number of canes per vine, yield and number of bunches per vine, yield and bunch weight and, yield and number of berries per bunch. Path co-efficient study of the vegetative and reproductive characters revealed direct contribution to fruit yield by number of canes per vine, shoot length, number of bunches per vine and bunch weight as 17.1%, 22%, 76.8% and 33.2%, respectively. The two varieties (Ex-Horticulture Samaru and Ex-Zaria black) studied for their response to application of FYM (10, 20 and 30 t/ha) and fertilizer (50:40:50, 150:80:100 and 250:120:150 of NPK kg/ha) revealed differential response on shoot length, berry size, fruit sugar percent and juice pH. Ex-Zaria black’s longer shoot length was not due to FYM or fertilizer treatments. Stem diameter, number of canes per vine, number of bunches per vine and bunch weight were significantly influenced by FYM and fertilizer application. Number of berries per bunch was not greatly influenced by nutrition and its direct contribution to yield was assessed to be 8%. Although, application of FYM and fertilizers increased fruit yield significantly in both varieties, the yield of Ex-Zaria black was superior. In both varieties, the interaction study revealed that FYM at 30 t/ha and fertilizer treatment at 250:120:150 NPK kg/ha gave the highest fruit yield in this study. The results of the combined analysis irrespective of the years revealed that pruning dates did not affect shoot length, berry size and fruit sugar content. The weight of summer pruned material was higher in September 26 and October 17 pruning dates. The loss in weight of the summer pruned material for November 7 pruning date was attributed to loss of leaves due to defoliation. The study showed that the September 26 pruning date was the best as it gives a higher yield and other yield components. The variety Bangalore blue produced longer shoots, weight of October and April pruned materials, number of bunches and sugar content than Ex-Zaria black. The interaction between variety x training system was significant with Ex-Zaria black producing higher yield under the Overhead training system. The two training systems (Kniffen and Overhead trellis) used did not affect shoot length, weight of April pruned material, number of bunches, number of berries, bunch weight, sugar content and fruit pH. A higher number of canes was recorded in the Kniffen training system.

PERFORMANCE OF TWENTY VARIETIES OF GRAPE (Vitis vinifera L.) AND THE RESPONSE OF TWO VARIETIES TO THE APPLICATION OF FARM YARD MANURE, FERTILIZERS, TRAINING SYSTEMS AND PRUNING DATES