Chronica - Acta Horticulturae

Scientific discussions at the NRC for Grapes.
Participants enjoying the wines.
The quarantine issues in viticulture focused on
the important quarantine pests and diseases
and measures for their prevention and spread.
The post-lunch technical session on the 9th in
the afternoon dealt with the emerging issues in
viticulture, including grape disorders namely
pink berry syndrome in ‘Thompson Seedless’
grapes, stalk necrosis as well as pedicel girdling
and sun scorching. The important nutritional
disorders were also discussed. The usefulness of
grape growing under covers and need for location
specific research under Indian conditions
was told. Apart from rootstock influence, the
time of application of hydrogen cyanamide and
CPPU was found to affect the incidence of
bunch abortion. A paper on an autonomous
threshold tension irrigation system, which coordinates
the root and shoot conditions, involving
the physiological parameters to indicate the
need of water where the vine/plant is the decision
maker for need for irrigation, was presented.
The latest developments in the international
trade and certification issues were also deliberated.
This was followed by the poster
session, in which fifty-three papers were presented.
On the 10th in the forenoon, in the first
session, two concurrent sessions on handling
and storage of table grapes, and wine grape
production and processing were held. Botrytis
cinerea was reported as the major post-harvest
pathogen. Vineyard sanitation, use of fungicides
in compliance with the export/import
regulations regarding residue levels, open vine
canopies supporting air movement and light
penetration, monitoring of decay in the vineyard
and the identification of the causal pathogens,
and harvesting at correct maturity levels
were identified as the critical tools for both preand
post-harvest decay management. Certification
requirements for present and future
were discussed. The Quality Management
System in India, with complete trace-back, online
farm registration, sampling, reporting online
alerts, weekly monitoring; setting up of the
National Research Centre for Grapes as the
National Referral Laboratory (NRL) with regard
to pesticide residue testing; and the capabilities
of the APEDA recognized residue-testing laboratories,
which meet ISO 17025 specifications,
were presented.
The status and prospects of raisin industry in
India, raisin production and processing in
Xinjiang, China and the processing of grapes
into raisins in China were presented. The wine
session discussed geographical indicators and
hot climate wine making as well as present
practices in wine production in France and
Spain. The pre-lunch session was devoted to
raisin grape production and processing. The
plenary session was held on the 10th of
February in the afternoon with invited dignitaries
and outstanding personalities in Viticulture
& Enology in the country. The invited delegates
were welcomed by tying the traditional
Maharashtrian pheta (head turban). On the
11th of February, a scientist-scientist interface
was held at the National Research Centre for
Grapes, Pune, where focused discussions on
some of the burning issues in Indian viticulture
took place.
The special attraction mainly for participants as
well as foreign scientists & delegates was the
table grape, raisin and wine competition and
exhibition organized at the symposium venue.
To encourage trade opportunities, a Buyer-
Seller Meet was organized by APEDA to enable
buyers, importers and agents from abroad to
discuss business opportunities with their Indian
Technical discussions in the vineyard.
Entries at the table grape competition.
counterparts. About 20 buyers from potential
countries besides existing markets around the
world and about 60 Indian participants specializing
in grapes and grape wine, registered
for the meet. An exhibition organized simultaneously
enabled the visitors to witness various
new products and brands. The international
visitors also visited GAP certified grape farms to
get a feel of the prevalent quality standards followed
in the Indian Grape Industry. They also
visited the National Referral Laboratory (NRL)
set up by APEDA at the National Research
Centre for Grapes for pesticide residue monitoring
in grapes. Significant business deals were
finalized between importers and exporters of
grapes during this meet, thus opening new
markets for Indian grapes.
CONTACT
Dr. Indu S. Sawant, Senior Scientist (Plant
Pathology), National Research Centre for
Grapes, Indian Council of Agricultural
Research, P.B. NO. 3, Manjri Farm P.O., Solapur
Road, Pune - 412 307, India, email:
indu.sawant@nrcgrapes.res.in
CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 46 • NUMBER 4 • 2006 • 43