May 12, 2008

Findings to be presented at Central Valley Grape and Raisin Expo Wednesday, Nov. 1.

A  sophisticated winegrape harvesting system using satellite, computer and infrared technologies and developed in a partnership between industry and California State University, Fresno is being hailed as a breakthrough.

Dr. Robert Wample, head of Fresno State’s viticulture and enology program and the leader of the team, announced the development today and will present the team’s findings at the Central Valley Grape and Raisin Expo on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the Caruthers Fairgrounds.  

This event, which is free to grape growers and pest control advisers, is from 6:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Wample’s presentation will be part of a 9:30 a.m. session on vineyard technologies.   Fresno State’s Viticulture and Enology Research Center (VERC) is one of the event’s sponsors.

“This has the potential of increasing the quality and value of the product and therefore the profit margin for wine grape growers,” said Wample, an internationally renowned viticulturist who is the center’s director and chairs the Department of Viticulture and Enology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at Fresno State.

The system uses near-infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) equipment in conjunction with GPS (global positioning systems) to prepare a "quality map" of a vineyard prior to harvest using GIS (Geographic Information Systems).

“The quality map is used to control the mechanical harvester as it moves through the vineyard,” Wample said. “Although there have been efforts elsewhere to determine fruit quality prior to harvest, to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever created the necessary maps and subsequently used them to control a mechanical harvester,” directing it to pick only the desired grapes. 

Wample said the development was confirmed in late September when university and industry researchers harvested grapes in Lodi using the new technique, four years in development.

Industry representatives are Oren Kaye, research winemaker at Constellation Wines in Madera and former a former Fresno State master’s student and VERC research technician; Jim Orvis, enology research, also Constellation; Greg Berg, Oxbo International Corp. in Kingsburg; and Stanton Lange, vineyard manager, of Lodi.

University team members are Robert Cochran, VERC research technician; Dr. Balaji Seth, an industrial technology professor; and Sivakumar Sachidhanantham, of India who is a student research assistant with the Industrial Technology Department.

Dr. Antonio Odair Santos, research scientist from the Instituto Agronomico in Brazil, also contributed to the project during while assigned to VERC in 2005 by developing preliminary procedures to calibrate the equipment, systems and techniques, Wample explained.  Sachidhanantham and Seth provided the GPS and GIS expertise.

Wample and his research team have been studying this aspect of precision farming since 2003.

A year ago, Wample began using an NIR spectrometer from the Maryland-based Brimrose Corporation of America to create a map of anthocyanin content in the vineyard prior to harvest. By harvesting only the highest-quality grapes in a vineyard, Wample said, the system helps all winegrape growers, but especially large growers and high-end wineries.

“Given the impending labor issues facing agriculture [the grape and wine industry], this could change the need for large quantities of hand labor that was used in the past,” Wample said. “It will be especially useful to those working with wineries attempting to meet the continuing higher expectations of the consumer and remain competitive.”

He said the technology can potentially be used in other crops and is aware of preliminary research regarding the use of NIRS in muskmelon, but not incorporating GPS or GIS.   He has received inquiries about the possible use of this technology in strawberries. 

“But I think the easiest transfer will be to table grapes,” Wample said.

Funding was provided primarily through VERC. Other funding sources include the Agricultural Research Institute, American Vineyard Foundation, Constellation Wines and the Viticulture Consortium West.

Wample was the recipient of the 2006 Claude Laval Jr. Award for Innovative Technology and Research Award through the university’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.  This competitive award helped to support the NIRS/GPS project. 

Now Wample is sharing the team’s success with the industry and next year will it will begin verifying findings on a larger scale.

For more information about the Central Valley Grape and Raisin Expo, call Malcolm Media at 559 278.6675.