Hedge trimming in viticulture
In order to reduce the costs and time required for pruning the vine, hedge pruning is increasingly attracting interest in the wine-growing world. According to estimates[1], pruning can represent up to 33% of costs, more than half of which is due to manual pruning of vines, potentially representing up to 50 hours of work per hectare. It is one of the last manual work tasks, while almost all other vineyard operations are mechanized or mechanizable (harvesting, shoot thinning, soil work…).
What is hedge pruning?
Hedge Pruning is the simplified pruning most historically known and widespread worldwide[2]. However, no well-monitored trial in France allows recommending it, particularly due to the excessive crowding around the cordon and the related quality or sanitary risks.
Hedge pruning is a system of mechanized pruning that consists of performing a more or less close pre-pruning using a mechanical pre-pruner on a cordon placed high: between 0.80 and 1.20 m from the ground, depending on the more or less upright growth habit of the grape variety and the presence or absence of trellising. The average bud load varies between 100 to 200 buds depending on the height (15 to 20cm) and the cutting width. This load can however be very high and sometimes reach 400 units per vine if manual follow-up is minimized. In all cases, the follow-up time should not exceed 10 hours per hectare.
The hanging vegetation takes the form of a bush. Yields generally increase during the first years of conversion before stabilizing. The clusters are enclosed within the vegetation and benefit from moderate light exposure.
| Average all grape varieties and vintages | Manual pruning | Hedge pruning |
|---|---|---|
| Buds left after pruning per vine | 20 to 25 | 70 to 150 |
| Number of shoots per vine | 22.5 | 39 |
| Bud break rate in % | 90 to 112.5 | 26 to 55 |
| Shoot length in cm | 90 | 71 |
| Internode length in cm | 5.8 | 4.9 |
| Number of clusters per vine | 31.3 | 72.6 |
| Cluster weight in g | 158 | 124 |
| Yield (T/ha) | 11.3 | 18.1 |
What are its disadvantages?
- Under humid climate, the risk of botrytis development can be high.
- This system suits vines of medium to high vigor, but can exhaust low vigor vines if not accompanied by irrigation.
- Hedge pruning is often considered non-quality, even though it is very widespread in Australia[3] and represents 60% of the 160,000 hectares of vineyard.
- Hedge pruning requires disease-resistant grape varieties
Sources
- French Institute of the Vine and Wine Occitanie, PRECISION CLOSE PRUNING, HEDGE PRUNING AND MINIMAL PRUNING
- French Institute of Vine and Wine, Technical and economic challenges to optimize production: mechanization of pruning
Appendices
- ↑ estimates made by the IFV Sud-Ouest using the VITICOÛT® software
- ↑ CARBONNEAU A., 2014, Simplified prunings are the key for many vineyards: but which ones?
- ↑ The first country to implement mechanized pruning systems was Australia in the 1980s, driven by the lack of labor near wine-growing areas. https://www.vignevin-occitanie.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/8-Caboulet-2012-m%C3%A9canisation-de-la-taille.pdf
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