Table of Contents
The global table grape market
The global table grape market is fragmented between abundant harvests, climate challenges, and new export strategies. In Europe, Italy confirms its central role, with a positive Sicilian campaign and a Puglian one marked by price pressures; Germany remains a market dominated by Italian supply, while Spain started the season late with smaller fruit, and in the Netherlands Italy benefits from lower competition from Spain and Greece. In North America, California reports high yields and growing demand, while South Africa reaches a record in exports, although facing new tariffs to the United States and a decrease in flows to Asia. Egypt ends with increased volumes but uneven quality, India expects a 15-20% drop in exports due to weather, Chile maintains last season’s levels aiming to diversify beyond the U.S., and Brazil remains dependent on Europe despite tariffs. Peru continues its expansion, driven by premium varieties and a 4% growth, targeting the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Italian table grapes lead exports in Europe
Italy is the leader in Europe in table grape production. A primacy built not only on quantity but also on the ability to innovate at agronomic and technological levels. With over 50,000 hectares cultivated, concentrated in Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia, the sector looks to the future through two increasingly interconnected directions: varietal evolution and precision irrigation.
In Italy, table grape cultivation is concentrated mainly in Puglia, Sicily, Basilicata, and Sardinia, representing an agri-food excellence in which innovations have emerged both in cultivation techniques and in varietal development.
Production, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, can achieve better results through the adoption of innovative irrigation methods, increasingly precise and smart. Rising temperatures and reduced water availability in areas suited to this crop require adjustments in irrigation techniques and management. While wine grapes are grown to highlight vinification characteristics, table grapes focus on commercial parameters. Producers aim to obtain intact, large, uniform, sweet, and crunchy berries.
Europe has historically been the main market for Italian table grapes, with Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom among the main importing countries. In this context, the most widespread and appreciated variety is “Italia,” which continues to be the cornerstone of exports. In recent years, however, EU agreements with non-European countries have favored the entry of new competitors, expanding supply and increasing competition for Italian producers.
To face these challenges, the sector is focusing on several directions: raising the qualitative and sanitary standards of production; enhancing the health properties of grapes; promoting the product through quality labels such as PDO and PGI; expanding the varietal range with new seedless grapes capable of adapting to Italian areas and meeting the growing demand of international markets; reducing vineyard planting and management costs to improve competitiveness.
Cultivation of seedless grapes: the numbers
The table grape sector is therefore experiencing a period of strong transformation. Traditional seeded varieties such as Vittoria and Italia no longer enjoy the broad consumer consensus they once had, as demand increasingly favors seedless varieties. Old vineyards at the end of their productive cycle are being replaced with new cultivars. Appreciated for ease of consumption, crunchiness, and appearance, these grapes are driving exports, with significant increases in areas such as Rutigliano, Noicattaro, and Adelfia, where in 2025 seedless cultivars surpassed traditional ones in extension.
Already in 2024, throughout Puglia (which alone accounts for about 60% of national table grape production), seedless varieties surpassed traditional ones in terms of production. But this “conversion” is taking place everywhere, particularly in Sicily, where in recent years technological investments and varietal innovations are reshaping a structure that lasted for decades.
The global spread of seedless varieties has profoundly transformed the international table grape market, pushing production to record levels with a 20% increase in the last decade. This shift has benefited emerging countries such as Peru and Chile, which have built their success precisely on seedless grapes, while traditional producers like Italy have struggled to keep up, still largely tied to classic varieties. Despite this, Italy maintains European leadership, with about one million tons produced every year and a 43% export share.
Worldwide, however, Italy has lost ground, dropping from first place until 2010 to seventh, due to the strong prevalence of seeded cultivars—such as Italia, Victoria, and Red Globe—that still dominate national production.
What is certain is that varietal renewal also requires the choice of new cultivation techniques. These include the use of the most modern technologies to manage production factors in a precise and sustainable way. Increasingly, we are talking about “precision farming,” which, with the help of specific sensors, allows us to better manage water resources to meet crop needs during different phenological stages.
Traditional irrigation of table grapes vs. smart irrigation
Old-style irrigation systems for table grapes involved installing secondary pipes high up, tied to the trellis structure, thus weighing it down. Polyethylene pipes of different diameters were more exposed to UV degradation. To avoid this, it has always been recommended to bury the secondary pipes, which in turn feed the laterals.
Traditional emitters used until a few years ago were “cigar-type,” with high flow rates (up to 16 l/h) and no compensation system. These emitters were installed one or two per plant at a distance of about 2.5–1.2 meters, concentrating water in a single point and wasting it through percolation, along with fertilizers, often influenced by soils rich in skeleton. The lack of pressure compensation meant that, in long rows or even slight slopes, distribution uniformity was very low. Most old systems are managed manually, increasing labor costs and leading to inefficient water use. Fertilizer distribution is often carried out with pumps or systems that do not allow control or management of conductivity and pH of the nutrient solution.
Precision irrigation, on the other hand – although not the cheapest solution in terms of initial investment – offers significant qualitative and quantitative advantages in production, allowing reduced consumption of water and fertilizers, as well as lower labor requirements. With a correctly designed system, where water and the dissolved nutrient solution are evenly distributed along the entire row, we obtain well-formed clusters and uniform berries in size and color. In addition, fruits are less prone to splitting, and thus less exposed to fungal infections, and an average increase in cluster weight has been observed. Proper irrigation, with optimal water management, also positively influences the aromatic profile of table grapes and the plant’s ability to use reserve substances the following spring.
Drip irrigation of table grapes: the advantages of a complete system
In table grape cultivation, irrigation is not a “rescue” practice but a fundamental intervention for optimal harvest success. Seasonal water requirements generally range from 2,000 to 4,000 cubic meters per hectare, depending on the site’s pedoclimatic characteristics, cultivar earliness or lateness, and cultivation techniques, which in Italy involve the trellis method.
The “Italian” method, increasingly adopted in other production areas (e.g., South America), is considered a true protected cultivation system that allows harvest anticipation or delay to better meet market demand.
The ideal emitter should deliver a constant flow despite pressure variations, resist clogging, ensure good manufacturing uniformity, maintain characteristics over time, and be cost-effective. Old irrigation systems for table grapes used emitters designed over 30 years ago.
For farmers who prefer online emitters, Irritec suggests replacing old cigar-type drippers with new iDrop® drippers, which are pressure-compensating, while the Multifunction outlet version allows connection to a microtube for directing water where needed. Replacing old drippers with new-generation ones improves distribution uniformity while maintaining the existing system. However, today the most versatile and high-performing solution is the use of dripline.
Dripline irrigation systems
Today, Irritec is engaged in developing new solutions to distribute water uniformly and achieve maximum production results. For this purpose, the company recommends using pressure-compensating integral driplines: Multibar® C with cylindrical dripper and Multibar® F with flat dripper. In integral driplines, the drippers are incorporated into the polyethylene pipe during extrusion, creating a seamless line without irregularities. Made of the same material as the pipe, they respond uniformly to thermal and mechanical stresses. They also feature a turbulent flow labyrinth (self-cleaning), where vortices prevent sediment buildup.
Pressure-compensating driplines, available in 16 or 20 mm diameter, allow irrigation of rows hundreds of meters long with nearly 100% uniformity, ensuring consistent plant growth and yield. Drippers with different flow rates (1.6 – 2.1 – 2.9 – 3.8 l/h) are co-extruded into the polyethylene pipe at preferred spacing.
Using spacing of 50–60–75 cm creates a continuous wet strip in the soil, benefiting the root system and nutrient absorption.
Subsurface irrigation in table grape cultivation
Driplines can be installed on the soil surface (rarely used in table grapes), tied to the support wire (most common), or buried, through subsurface irrigation. Thanks to the advantages of Irritec’s Rootguard® technology, viticulture has widely adopted buried systems both in new and existing vineyards, for table and wine grapes. Most systems use a dripline buried 30–40 cm deep at the center of the row, with drippers delivering 2.1 or 4 l/h spaced 50–100 cm apart.
In very draining soils, the line can be buried closer to the vine row depending on the rootstock. Burying driplines in trellis vineyards allows machine transit during fertigation without wetting the operators.
In trellis vineyards, buried systems also prevent clusters positioned below emitters from getting wet, reducing fungal disease risk. Water savings, improved fertigation efficiency, and better weed control have been observed, requiring only light, shallow interventions, even during irrigation. Compared to other technologies, Rootguard® protects drippers from root intrusion independently of irrigation cycles.
Cooling irrigation
Inside trellises, temperatures can become very high, halting normal plant physiology, reducing yields, and endangering workers. In fact, in many regions working under trellises during the hottest hours is prohibited. To lower temperatures, Irritec offers its line of cooling sprinklers, which exploit liquid-to-gas transition, absorbing heat from the environment and lowering temperatures to safe levels for people and plants. The entire system can be automated and does not increase fungal disease risks. Irrigation cycles are very short, and water sprayed at high pressure (4.0–5.0 bar) evaporates immediately, absorbing surrounding heat.
Soilless irrigation of table grapes
Beyond traditional trellis systems, new soilless methods are spreading to increase yields while reducing labor, water, and fertilizer use.
For years, Irritec has been researching soilless cultivation, where irrigation requires short and frequent applications—up to 12–15 times per day during peak demand months. In these cases, ad hoc irrigation systems are needed, taking into account the chemical-physical properties of the substrate and pot size to distribute water and fertilizer precisely.
Fertigation of table grapes: better vine care, better quality
Both soil and soilless systems require fertigation systems able to meet vine needs in different stages and to monitor both pH and EC of the water to ensure continuous nutrient availability.
Designed for soilless viticulture, the Irritec Shaker Set can be installed inline or in bypass (for higher flow rates) and injects up to 4 fertilizers per pH and EC set. The integrated Commander Evo® programmer allows combining pH and EC management with other functions. For example, one or more irrigation programs can be activated based on ambient temperature or solar radiation, measured with specific probes.
Adding monitoring tools (weather stations or sensors for soil moisture, temperature, and EC) allows constant control of vine water status, making it possible to set irrigation schedules based on agronomic goals.
Irritec offers several solutions to meet producers’ needs. The Ferticlick, available in Pump or By-Pass versions, injects one fertilizer at a time. The Dosabox Junior Advanced injects up to three fertilizers proportionally, with manual pH and EC control.
Automation of irrigation systems in a 5.0 perspective with Irritec
The evolution of irrigation practices in recent decades has created new management needs to achieve maximum results in terms of water savings, energy reduction, and agronomic efficiency.
In modern precision agriculture, automation is indispensable for irrigation management. Remote management of systems offers several advantages, including:
- saving water by applying it precisely and on time;
- saving fertilizers by distributing them in the right way, quantity, and time, reducing costs and environmental impact;
- remote control from anywhere, reducing labor;
- irrigating at night;
- managing large irrigation areas with real-time monitoring;
- direct system management, giving farm owners full control.
To achieve these goals, Irritec has developed evolving solutions that keep pace with technology.
A remote-control system consists of a programmer, sensors, solenoid valves in the field (even far away), and a communication system. The Commander series programmers (EVO Basic, Plus, Gold) are the core of this system. The first is recommended for extensive crops, the second for large farms, and the third for soilless cultivation. The different models can control up to 216 valves, manage 20 irrigation programs, set irrigation times down to seconds, volumetrically, or on demand with environmental sensors that detect temperature or solar radiation.
The entire system can be managed remotely through the “Farmonitor” web app, controlling up to 5 autonomous pumps, filtration stations, sending alarms, and communicating with other devices such as water meters, fertilizer meters, differential pressure gauges, etc.
Alongside irrigation management, the Commander® series also automatically manages fertigation, injecting up to 4 different fertilizers and one acid according to a pre-set pH and EC or proportionally to water flow. With these programmers, farmers can decide irrigation cycle duration, fertilizer recipes, and timing—starting with water, then adding fertilizers, and ending with clean water to maintain system hygiene.
The connection between Commander® and solenoid valves can be via electrical cables or radio. The first is traditional, valid up to certain distances and number of valves, while the second can reach over 4.5 km, using low frequency without interference from obstacles like buildings or hills.
For radio management, the Commander requires a transmitter, antenna, and field receiver, which can manage two valves, halving costs. The receiver has a long-lasting battery and connects to solenoid valves via simple wires. Multiple valves can be opened simultaneously, and the system can be internet-controlled, automating even old manual systems and avoiding cable trenching, which often damages buried pipes. In case of lightning, radio systems limit damage to a single receiver instead of the entire network.
Data-driven and automated irrigation management in table grapes
The need for sustainable agriculture management is leading farms to adopt systems that record microclimatic field parameters and use decision support systems (DSS) to predict pests and correctly manage irrigation and plant protection.
Irritec systems include a weather station with traditional sensors (rain, wind, solar radiation, atmospheric pressure) that can be extended with wireless units featuring microclimatic sensors (air temperature and humidity, leaf wetness, soil moisture). These wireless units, placed in the field, collect microclimatic data and transmit it via radio to the main station, which, using LTE connectivity and a SIM, uploads data to a cloud platform.
Accurate use of agronomic data
Farmers can view all data (real-time and historical) and use models that process them to meet agronomic needs. In addition to data analysis, the platform includes models for water requirements, disease risk, and crop indices. With these models, farmers and consultants have objective, measurable data to make informed management decisions.
To reduce water use, Irritec systems include a crop water requirement model, based on weather conditions and growth stage. The system calculates daily water loss from soil evaporation and plant transpiration, expressed in liters per square meter, creating a water balance that includes rainfall and irrigation.
Volumetric soil moisture sensors measure soil water percentage at different depths. Even without an irrigation system, this data is useful for soil management and canopy decisions.
Better protection from plant health and climate risks
Beyond the above advantages, farms also benefit from disease risk models. For each detection point, the system evaluates microclimatic conditions relative to pathogen development cycles, particularly temperature and leaf wetness hours (distinguishing between upper and lower leaf surfaces) measured within the canopy. This is essential for greater model reliability. With these models, agronomists and technicians have measurable data to plan protection strategies and assess treatment effectiveness.
Other functions are available depending on sensor configuration. For example, for each detection point, a frost prediction model estimates frost probability the following night by mid-afternoon. Alarm thresholds (frost risk and temperature) can be set to organize emergency measures, reducing damage and yield loss.
Finally, all collected data are permanently stored in the cloud. Annual reports can be generated and printed, showing average and cumulative weather data, compared with phenological phases listed in the system’s calendar year by year.
