Thermal Unit Accumulation of Grape Varieties Under Temperate Conditions of Kashmir Valley
摘要
For optimization of vine growth and yield, it is necessary to understand the relationship between grape varieties and climate indices. An investigation on four varieties viz. ‘Thompson Seedless’, ‘Fantasy Seedless’, ‘Hussaini’ and ‘Sahebi’ was carried out at the Experimental Field of the Division of Fruit Science, SKUAST‑K, Shalimar campus, during 2021. The primary objective was to evaluate these varieties based on phenology, agro-meteorological indices and production parameters. The experiment employed a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five replications. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among varieties of grape with respect to different observations. ‘Sahebi’ accumulated maximum number of days, growing degree days (GDD), photothermal units (PTU) and heliothermal units (HTU) to reach every phenophase (ripe—198.40 days, 1490.15 GDD, 19,885.98 PTU and 11,154.68 HTU, respectively) except flowering and veraison, in which ‘Fantasy Seedless’ and ‘Hussaini’ registered maximum values, respectively. Conversely, ‘Thompson Seedless’ took minimum number of days (185.20 days), GDD (1319.70 °C days), PTU (17,716.34 °C days) and HTU (9777.34 °C days) to reach each phenophase. Heat use efficiency, photothermal use efficiency and heliothermal use efficiency were noted to be maximum in ‘Thompson Seedless’ (14.39, 1.07 and 1.94 kg ha−1 °C day−1, respectively) and minimum in ‘Fantasy Seedless’ (8.22, 0.61 and 1.09 kg ha−1 °C day−1, respectively). Yield per vine and predicted yield per hectare were noted to be maximum in ‘Thompson Seedless’ (17.10 kg/vine and 18,999.98 kg/ha, respectively) and minimum in ‘Fantasy Seedless’ (10.40 kg/vine and 11,555.54 kg/ha, respectively). In conclusion, ‘Thompson Seedless’ demonstrated superior utilization of thermal indices, resulting in maximum yield, whereas ‘Fantasy Seedless’ was the least efficient. These findings provide a foundation for developing prediction models tailored to different grape varieties using thermal indices, thereby enhancing grape production strategies.