Generating benefits from Precision Viticulture through selective harvesting

Despite the intuitive benefits of precision agriculture, its widespread adoption is constrained by concerns amongst non-adopters as to its benefit:cost. This is especially the case for broadacre cereal production where the primary area of interest is in the variable application of inputs such as fertilizers. In contrast, recent focus in the Australian wine industry has centred much more on targeted harvesting of fruit for consignment to different end products. In this paper, we present 4 case studies from the Padthaway, Clare Valley and Margaret River winegrape growing regions of Australia, as evidence of the economic benefits that may accrue to grapegrowers and winemakers through the adoption of precision viticulture, especially with respect to selective harvesting. These benefits may be enhanced when this also involves harvesting separate parcels on different dates, as opposed to selectively harvesting into different bins on the same day.