High-tech support tool for winemakers
European wine farms are up against increasingly stiff competition from new world wineries. Combined with the challenges posed by climate change, these farmers need all the help they can get to remain competitive. The EU-funded VINTAGE (A user friendly decision support system for an integrated vineyard management, for addressing quality and quantity production variability optimising the use of resources) initiative addressed this challenge through precision viticulture technologies supported by remote and local automated monitoring. Backed by four national and regional European wine associations, the project developed a cost-efficient and user-friendly integrated management solution, or decision support system (DSS). The web-based DSS streamlines the vineyard life cycle from planting to harvesting, improving productivity and optimising the use of resources such as water use, pesticides and manpower. The VINTAGE DSS also minimises the effect of seasonal variability and provides winemakers with cutting-edge knowledge to manage vineyards. Importantly, the DSS complements time-tested growing practices and traditions with high-tech sensors and data; air, plant and soil monitoring; and computer simulations of watering, spraying, pruning, grape thinning and so on. In real time, the DSS helps determine the ripeness and quality of grapes, and areas at risk from parasites or fungi. It enables growers to understand and manage grape ripeness stages, water content and disease dynamics. The prototype VINTAGE system was tested out at pilot sites in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. Once the prototype systems had gathered enough data, the user interface was designed for both computer and mobile platforms. Through the different national winemaking associations involved in the project, the European wine sector is expected to have a better chance at asserting its primacy on the global market.
Keywords
Winemakers, vineyards, wine farms, decision support system, viticulture, monitoring
