Effect of Cane Density and Shoot Orientation on Growth, Yield and Quality of 'Thompson Seedless' Grapes

Investigation on effect of cane density and orientation was undertaken for improvement of growth, yield and quality of 'Thompson Seedless' grapes grafted on Dogridge rootstock in a factorial randomized block design with treatments consisting of four cane angles (vertical, 30 degrees, 45 degrees and 60 degrees) with a density of 35, 40 and 45 canes per vine. The experiment was conducted at the Instructional cum Research Farm, College of Agriculture, Osmanabad (MS) India during 2012-13. Different characters of vine vigour, leaf, bunch, berry, yield and quality attributes were recorded. The results revealed that all attributes were significantly influenced by cane density (35 canes per vine) and orientation of shoot (45 degrees) except TSS and juice pH. The highest vine vigour in terms weight of pruning (561.51 g), number of bunches per vine (36.11), length of bunch (19.29 cm), weight of a bunch (351.79 g), number of berries per bunch (122.91), weight of berry (2.92 g), length of berry (20.12 mm), diameter of berry (16.05 mm) and yield (21.20 Mt/ha). The highest length of internode (5.26 cm), leaf area (168.49 cm(2)), leaf area index (0.38) was recorded in the same cane density and shoot orientation. The highest TSS (21.92 degrees B) and lowest acidity (0.40%) were determined at 35 canes per vine and a 45 degrees orientation of shoots. However, almost all characters were at par with 45 canes per vine with a shoot orientation of 30 degrees. It is inferred that the best vine canopy architecture of 35 canes per vine with a cane orientation at 45 degrees was found to be suitable for vine vigour, yield and quality attributes under subtropical conditions in Maharashtra State of India.