The use of organic wastes for soil-covering of vineyards

The Balaton region is an important grape producing area of Hungary. Of the 22 wine producing regions in the country 5 can be found here, four on the northern shore of the lake and one on the southern shore. The majority of the vineyards are located in the area of the Balaton Uplands National Park. The dry ecological conditions and the protection of the water quality of the lake gave preference to soil cultivation methods using mulching. Mulching trials were set up for the utilisation of the large mass of organic plant wastes occurring within the Balaton Uplands National Park (reed, rush and Solidago). During the trials in addition to complete surface coverage, grassing and mechanical cultivation applications were also administered. In consideration of our objectives we assessed the following: a) in our experience the mixed plant mulch spread at a rate of 10 t/ha ensures the covering layer which is suitably effective for 2 years against monocotyledon and dicotyledon weed seed germination; b) it is however a basic requirement of the successful application of this technology to pull down the ridges and eliminate convolvulus contamination using weed control; c) by the third year the spread organic matter layer becomes thin and patches of mono - and dicotyledon weeds can develop from seed. These can be overcome by the application of glifozate herbicide in patches. In our experience the mulch layer must be renewed after the third year; d) results of our physical soil characteristics trials showed that in respect of both compactness and moisture content mulching showed the best results and grassing the least favourable; e) the effect of mulching can be observed in the growth of the quantity of bunch yield, the must acquires a more acid character and in the case of drought prone varieties, the sugar content may also rise. Based on our results to date we consider that the introduction of the use of waste materials produced in the area of the Balaton Uplands National Park, which we examined during our trials, is also viable for introducing on a large scale production level since the mechanisation of the mulch application can be considered solved.