Grape growers trial disease-fighting robots as wine industry struggles with rising costs
Wine grape growers grappling with declining sales and rising expenses hope advancements in autonomous technology can help to safeguard the industry.
Global wine consumption has dropped considerably over the last two decades and the increasing cost of chemicals and a labour shortage have put vineyards under pressure.
But it is hoped technological breakthroughs will provide economic and environmental solutions.
Agri Automation is collaborating with Wine Australia to trial a device that uses a form of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, rather than chemicals, to treat vineyard diseases.
The method involves a self-driving vehicle travelling between the vines and exposing them to UV-C with an electronic device.
Agri Automation managing director Cam Clifford said UV-C was most effective when applied at night.
"It works by destroying the DNA of the [diseased] cell, so it will damage it to a point that it can't rebuild itself," he said.
"Once those cells are broken down … they can't rebuild themselves, which essentially controls the disease, as opposed to applying agrochemicals.
Traditionally, fungicides, pesticides and herbicides are applied to crops to protect plants and grapes, which requires a number of workers and can take multiple days.
Reducing the use of chemicals has been linked with improved outcomes for biodiversity, as well as improved water, soil and food quality.
Similar technology is being trialled in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The technology has been put on display at the Department of Primary Industries Regional Development research station in Orange, New South Wales.
Tamburlaine Organic Wines vineyard manager Boris Ostini says it could have an extremely positive impact for vignerons.
"It is getting harder to find decent vineyard workers," he said.
"This makes the management of what you are trying to control easier … you can do it when you need to get it done, sometimes in the rain, hail or shine.
"It will definitely help out with the profitability and the impact of disease."
Tamburlaine is certified as an organic winery that does not use fungicides, pesticides and herbicides.
Mr Ostini said reducing chemical use created an opportunity to attract new buyers.
"It will help with the marketing side of things," he said.
Growers are also using technology to Identify whether vines are diseased and need to be sprayed.
Australian start-up BioScout has created a device that scans the air in a vineyard for pathogens every 12 hours.
The data collected is automatically scanned and artificial intelligence is used to identify whether diseases are present in the crop.
BioScout's Charles Simons said the system removed the "guess work" for growers deciding when to apply chemicals.
"It gives them the amount of spores and also tells them the severity of the infection, so they can make time decisions on spray applications," he said.
"You look at the environment and you look at the crop and you make the decision on gut-feel … yet you don't know what the pathogens are, which is the missing link."
Mr Simons said the technology would help to reduce the use of chemicals over time.
"Vineyards are blanket-spraying applications for powder and downy mildew … that is not very good for the environment," he said.
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