 Pesticide/fungicide and liquid foliants and fertilisers are a crucial aspect of vineyard management. Sprays keep your vines disease-free, which helps you always produce top-quality fruit. By producing the very best grapes with every harvest, you'll maximise your earnings each time. Both amateur and veteran viticulturists still suffer from inefficient spraying practices, which is not only a waste of resources, but can damage the quality of your yield and adversely affect the environment too: for instance, droplets of pesticide that miss your vine canopy end up in the soil, with potential long-term effects on your vineyard.
To save on costs and protect your crops, you should only apply pesticide and fungicide sprays when the vineyard needs it. Equally, timing the application of foliants and fertilisers is critical to maximise their positive impacts on the crop. In 2020 and beyond, vineyard owners must learn to optimise their spraying practices and determine the best times to carry out their viticulture activities. Outdated Calendar-Based Spraying Methods Many grape growers today still stick to calendar-based spraying methods to protect their vines from pests and disease. Depending on the product, some vineyard owners would apply pesticides in one- or two-week intervals. Some would even spray a little less after seven days of application to deter impending disease growth. Calendar-based spraying methods may have worked before; however, times have quite literally changed. The impending surge of climate change is making it that much harder to predict day-to-day weather conditions which inevitably affect a vineyard owner’s spraying schedule. Climate Change is Changing When To Spray Unfortunately for many growers, the consequences of climate change is making it harder to maintain a healthy, disease-free vineyard. As the climate slowly changes, seasons gradually shift from their standard calendar days. And when seasons change, so does the weather. If you're a vineyard owner, remember that the weather does not turn by the calendar. This makes it counterproductive to spray based on a certain number of days. So, if colder days aren't the best way to determine the best time to spray pesticides, what is? Spraying Based on the Weather Spraying based on weather conditions, which are highly determined by seasonal shifts brought by climate change, is a better criterion to go by. Factors such as temperature, humidity, and rainfall all affect how fast pests and diseases spread in your vineyard. These same factors are also primarily determined by the weather conditions in your area. For example, certain vine diseases don't survive hot, dry seasons. It often happens that vineyard owners would spray too much during these seasons. The result is a smaller yield at harvest time, accompanied by a missed earnings opportunity. The same can happen during rainy seasons. Missing the best time to spray pesticides could result in infected vines which also amount to smaller yields and earnings. With GreenView, you can determine the best time to spray by taking into account your vines’ real-time state and current weather conditions. Using pesticides only when you need them and at the exact right time helps you optimise your spraying practices and keeps your environmental impact low, and your yield prediction high. Growth Stage-Based Spraying With the onset of climate change and shifts in the seasons, spraying pesticides based on the weather still has its uncertainties. If you rely on weather alone, you're missing out on further optimising your spraying practices. A more modern solution to improving your spraying practice is to apply pesticides on your vine canopy based on your crop's growth stage. Some stages in a vine's lifespan are more susceptible to pests and disease. To make the most out of your spraying practice, the best time to apply pesticides is when your crops are most vulnerable. Not only does this help you keep your vineyard healthy, but it also lessens the harmful effects of the chemicals on the environment. GreenView uses machine-learning to identify the growth stage of the crops in your vineyard. By identifying your vine's growth stage, the software suggests when you should spray as well as how much you pesticide to apply. Spraying your vineyards with pesticides and fungicides is a critical part of a vineyard owner's to-do list. Calendar-based spraying methods have been outdated due to the onset of climate change, so weather- and growth-stage-based methods are your best shot at optimising your spraying methods. With GreenView's real-time imagery and data-collection capabilities, knowing how much and when to spray will be as simple as clicking a button on your computer. Want to know more about the machine-learning technology behind GreenView? We've got answers! Reach out to us, and we'll tell you how GreenView can help you make data-driven decisions for your vineyard. Comments are closed.
|