Grape research boosted by $6 million USDA grant

A vineyard map image showing data layered on Google Earth.
A vineyard map image showing data layered on Google Earth.

Cornell Chronicle [2015-10-22]:

The ancient art of grape growing is getting a high-tech boost thanks to Cornell University research and a $6 million federal grant.

The grant money, part of the USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative, will fund a four-year project to develop and implement digital mapping technology. The project aims to bring precision viticulture technology to growers of various scales, cultivating all grape species, with the potential to spur gains for the U.S juice, wine, raisin and table grape industries.

The project will be led led by Terry Bates, director of the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Lab in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).

Project leaders plan to utilize a suite of mobile sensors that measure conditions related to the soil, canopy and crop. Software developed by the project team will crunch thousands of data points to produce digital maps layered with information detailing specific conditions.

Read the whole article.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *