INFLUENCE OF VINE LOADS WITH FERTILE BUDS ON GRAPE YIELD AND QUALITY OF VARIETY ŽIŽAK IN PODGORICA VINEYARD AREA

Results of a two - year study of the influence of different vine loads with fertile buds on elements of grape yield and quality of Žižak grape variety are presented in this paper. The research was conducted in the Podgorica sub region, at the Lješkopolje site. Four different vine loads with fertile buds were applied: 14 buds, 18 buds, 20 and 24 buds per vine. The results of this research show that the applied loads significantly influence the examined parameters of the autochthonous variety Žižak. The highest percentage of developed and fertile shoots, as well as the average number of flowers per bud, had a variant with load of 14 buds. The relative coefficient of yielding in all examined load variants had mean values. In terms of the number of flowers per fertile shoot in the two-year average, variants with a load of 18 and 14 buds (1.44 and 1.39) stood out. The highest yield of grapes in the two-year average had the variant with a load of 24 buds - 3.60 kg/vine, while the highest bunch weight had the variant V1-185 g. The quality of grapes also varied significantly under the influence of the vine load with fertile buds. The highest sugar content in must had variant with a load of 18 buds (22.32%), while the highest acid content (6.27g/l) was recorded in the variant with 24 buds per vine.