Evaluating water use efficiency and drought tolerance of various rootstocks

New adaptation strategies are required to deal with climate change, and using more efficient rootstocks is potentially a sustainable solution. It is generally known that rootstocks can confer favourable properties on the grafted plant, however, the New Zealand wine industry does not have robust knowledge relevant to local conditions to make informed choices about the best rootstock options for a particular planting situation.
Bragato Research Institute has developed a trial with 15 different rootstocks to generate this knowledge. Focusing on Sauvignon Blanc, the trial aims to identify rootstocks that will confer drought tolerance and maximise the productive water use efficiency while maintaining high productivity and the characteristic style of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.