VINE PHYSIOLOGY
The Australian dried grape industry strives for innovation, ensuring its processes are efficient, sustainable and fair.
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Grapevines are increasingly grown in the latitudes between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Currently most plantings are of pure Vitis vinifera varieties.
There is considerable scope to increase the resistance of grapes to the main fungal diseases encountered in the tropics by using a range of Vitis species as parents.
These hybrids should be based on species that do not give strong ‘foxy’ flavours and could involve complex French hybrids, V. rotundifolia and also Asian species such as V. anturensis and V. armata.
CSIRO Merbein has a small hybridisation program aimed at developing new varieties for tropical environments.
Breeding Grapevines for Tropical Environments
