ABSTRACT Viticulture is an activity of great social and economic importance in the lower-middle region of the São Francisco River valley in northeastern Brazil. In this region, the fertility of soils under vineyards is generally poor. To assess the effects of organic and nitrogen fertilization on chemical properties and nitrate concentrations in an Argissolo Vermelho-Amarelo (Typic Plinthustalf), a field experiment was carried out in Petrolina, Pernambuco, on Syrah grapevines. Treatments consisted of two rates of organic fertilizer (0 and 30 m3 ha-1) and five N rates (0, 10, 20, 40, and 80 kg ha-1), in a randomized block design arranged in split plots, with five replications. The organic fertilizer levels represented the main plots and the N levels, the subplots. The source of N was urea and the source of organic fertilizer was goat manure. Irrigation was applied through a drip system and N by fertigation. At the end of the third growing season, soil chemical properties were determined and nitrate concentration in the soil solution (extracted by porous cups) was determined. Organic fertilization increased organic matter, pH, EC, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, sum of bases, base saturation, and CEC, but decreased exchangeable Cu concentration in the soil by complexation of Cu in the organic matter. Organic fertilization raised the nitrate concentration in the 0.20-0.40 m soil layer, making it leachable. Nitrate concentration in the soil increased as N rates increased, up to more than 300 mg kg-1 in soil and nearly 800 mg L-1 in the soil solution, becoming prone to leaching losses.

RESUMOA adubação pode influenciar a produção e a composição química do mosto da videira. Assim,o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar osefeitos da aplicação de adubo orgânico e nitrogenado nos atributos do solo e na produção da videira ‘Syrah’ irrigada por gotejamento, durante 3 ciclos de produção (abril a agosto de 2010; novembro de 2010 afevereiro de 2011; maio a setembro de 2011), bem como a composição química do mosto produzido, emPetrolina-PE. Os tratamentos consistiram em 2 doses de adubo orgânico (0 e 30 m3 ha-1 de esterco caprino) e 5 doses de N (0; 10; 20; 40 e 80 kg ha-1), dispostos em blocos casualizados, com 5 repetições, em esquema de parcelas subdivididas. A adubação orgânica aumentou os teores de fósforo disponível, CTC e matériaorgânica do solo, diminuindo a acidez total titulável do mosto no primeiro ciclo e proporcionou aumento na produção de frutos e na massa de 100 bagas no terceiro ciclo de produção. As doses de N não influenciaramo número de cachos por planta, a produtividade de frutos, nem as características enológicas.

ABSTRACTFertilization can influence the production and must composition of vine. Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of organic and nitrogen fertilizer on the yield of drip irrigated wine grape ‘Syrah’ and on the must composition, in three growing seasons (April to August 2010; November 2010 to February 2011; May to September2011) in Petrolina, State of Pernambuco, Brazil. The treatments consisted of 2 organic fertilizer levels (0 and 30 m3 ha-1 of goat manure) and 5 N levels (0, 10, 20, 40 and 80 kg ha-1), in 5 randomized blocks in split-plot design. The organic fertilization increased the soil organic matter content, the available P, and CEC, as well as decreased the total tritatable acidity in the must in the 1st growing season and increased the yield and the hundred berries weight in the 3rd growing season. The N rates did not influence the number of cluster per plant, neither the fruit yield and enological characteristics.

A avaliação da capacidade de raízes de plantas em extrair água do solo é de grande importância na modelagem da taxa de transpiração e, para entender o crescimento e rendimento vegetal e o balanço de água e de solutos no solo. Para testar um modelo de extração radicular macroscópico baseado no processo em escala microscópica, descreveram-se os resultados de um experimento com plantas cujo sistema radicular foi dividido entre camadas de solo com propriedades hidráulicas contrastantes. Um experimento de lisímetro dividido com plantas de sorgo foi realizado em Piracicaba-SP. Quatro lisímetros com dois compartimentos separados fisicamente (split-pot) foram construídos e preenchidos com material de dois tipos de solo de diferentes classes texturais (um solo de textura média - AR e outro de textura argilosa - AG). Durante um mês e meio foi imposto um regime hídrico, alternando a irrigação entre os compartimentos. O teor de água nos compartimentos dos lisímetros foi monitorado com TDR e tensiômetros. O material dos dois solos foi analisado conforme método-padrão quanto às suas propriedades de retenção e condução da água. A densidade radicular foi determinada por pesagem no fim do experimento, tendo ficado em torno de duas vezes maior no solo AR do que no AG. Observou-se que a extração de água ocorreu preferencialmente do compartimento do lisímetro com maior potencial de fluxo matricial. Em certas ocasiões houve transferência de água do lado de maior para o de menor potencial de fluxo matricial, com a liberação da água ao solo pelo sistema radicular (hydraulic lift). Para compensar o efeito da heterogeneidade da distribuição radicular e da atividade radicular, incluiu-se, no modelo, um fator empírico f de correção. O modelo testado descreveu bem 80 % das observações com a utilização de valores de f de 0,01506 e 0,003713, para os solos AR e AG, respectivamente. O modelo simulou a liberação de água ao solo mais frequentemente do que ela ocorreu no experimento. Esse fato pode indicar que a resistência interna do sistema radicular, não contabilizada pelo modelo, pode ter papel importante nas relações hídricas na rizosfera.

Evaluating plant root capacity in extrating water from the soil is important for transpiration modeling and to understand crop growth and yield and soil water and nutrient balance. Aiming to test a macroscopic root water extraction model based on the microscopic process description, an experiment was described in which the root system of plants penetrated different soil layers with contrasting hydraulic properties. Four lysimeters containing two physically divided compartments were built and filled with material of two soils with different texture (a medium textured soil - AR and a clayey soil - AG). During a month and a half a water regime was imposed alternating the irrigation among the compartments. The soil water content in the compartments was measured with TDR and tensiometers. Soil hydraulic properties - retention and conductivity - were analyzed by standard methods. Root density was determined by weighing at the end of the experiment, resulting in values twice as high in AR than in AG soil. It was observed that water extraction occurred preferentially from the lysimeter compartments with the highest matric flux potential. Occasionally, water transfer from the compartment with higher matric flux potential to the lower one was observed, releasing water from root to soil (hydraulic lift). To compensate for the effect of heterogeneity of root distribution and root activity and soil-root contact, an empirical factor f was added to the model. Its value was determined by a numerical fitting procedure aiming at the highest correlation between model and observation in the four lysimeters. The model described 80% of the observations satisfactorily by using these f values, which were 0.01506 and 0.003713, respectively, for AR and AG. Model predictions indicated a much more frequent water release from roots to soil than observed in the experiment. This may suggest internal root resistance, not considered by the model, may play an important role in root-water relations.