AgroPages-Vine care apps on trial for growers in Australia-Agricultural news

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Wine grape growers may soon be able to measure the amount of water their vineyards need through a smartphone.

Two new apps are being trialled by growers in parts of Australia this year.

One app, which Wine Australia is funding, will help wine grape growers measure the water status of their vines so they are able to improve water management decisions for their vineyards.

The app will feature a thermal camera attached to a smartphone and grape growers will use the camera to take images of the grapevine’s canopy.

From there the image will be analysed by the app, which calculates the vine water status.

The app is being trialled by 15 wine grape growers in South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Tasmania for the remainder of the growing season.

It is being developed by the South Australian Research and Development Institute, a division of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, in collaboration with the University of NSW.

Acting executive director of SARDI Dr Kathy Ophel-Keller said water and associated pumping costs could be a significant component of the production costs for grape growers.

“Uncontrolled water stress has the potential to reduce the yield and quality of grapes and the resulting wine, which in turn reduces the return to growers,” Dr Ophel-Keller said.

“The management of vine water status is a key tool for grape growers to regulate yield and optimise fruit quality and style.”

The second app, Project Boundary Rider, aims to evaluate the potential of geofencing software to safeguard vineyards from pests, diseases and weeds.

This type of smartphone technology would be a first for the Australian wine industry.

The app, which is a Vinehealth Australia initiative and has been funded by the South Australian Government, is currently being tested by 30 growers across the growing regions of McLaren Vale and the Barossa until mid this year.

A spokeswoman for Vinehealth said geofencing technology has the capability to help growers to protect their properties from biosecurity incursions and through the technology’s track and trace capability, facilitate timely management of outbreaks, should they occur.

“We also believe this type of technology has a lot to offer growers at the ground level outside the biosecurity realm as well, for example limiting weed movements within a property, protecting the safety of staff after application of agrochemicals with long re-entry periods or managing when fruit can be tasted once a block’s agrochemical withholding period has been met.”