Trial Location:

Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand

Trial Objectives:

To Show That Agrizest will:

Provide a more efficacious and cost-effective alternative to traditional complex fertiliser regimes, enhancing plant health and reducing pest and disease damage.

Note: Agrizest has no direct effect on pests or diseases.

Trial Design: Split block, independent, commercial scale trial.

The trial was carried out in Blenheim by one of New Zealand’s leading wine companies.

The trial is a fully replicated trial; a continuation of an observational trial started during the previous season.

Spray Programme:

The trial compared two treatments (Agrizest and the “CTR” nutrient treatment) and a control treatment.

The recommended (named vineyard) pest and disease spray schedule was carried out as usual on all treatments. The treatment areas were the same as those used in the previous season with the intent that any multi-season effects would be captured.

Trial Details:

Each treatment was applied to approximately one-third of each section. Within each treatment area, bays were randomly selected as treatment replicates on which measurements were conducted. Since the treatments consisted of foliar-applied sprays, two treatment areas of approximately 30 rows each were sprayed every time a formulation was used throughout the season.

Eight replicates per treatment were marked out in early October. The total area per treatment was approximately 3.2 hectares. For some measurements, such as inflorescence counts, yield estimation segments from the standard Vineyard Yield Estimation Program were used instead of the bay replicates.

To maintain consistency, 54 yield estimation segments were established—rather than the usual 50—to ensure that nine segments were set up within each treatment area.