Background

Dion grew up with the wine industry in Canterbury and worked on the family vineyard while completing his BSc and MSc with honours at Canterbury University 1993 - 1998. In 1999 Dion joined the HortResearch team in Marlborough and has been working with horticultural crops in Marlborough ever since. The opening of the Marlborough Wine Research Centre in 2004 has lead to the continued focus of horticultural research into viticulture research.

Expertise

His viticulture research interests include Botrytis bunch rot, disease monitoring and management, grapevine mycorrhizal fungi, plant establishment, general vine health, mulching, physiological impacts of virus on grapes, trunk diseases and Yeast available nitrogen (YAN) of fruit.

Current Research

Investigation of Botrytis / Nitrogen interactions

Investigation of grapevine trunk fungi in New Zealand

Investigation of the physiological impacts of leaf roll type 3 virus on Sauvignon Blanc grapevines

Field testing of new compounds, organism and practises for disease control in grapes

Selected Publications

• R.H. Agnew, D.C. Mundy and R. Balasubramaniam

  Effects of Spraying Strategies Based on Monitored Disease Risk on Grape Disease Control and Fungicide Usage in Marlborough. New Zealand Plant Protection 57 (2004): 30-36

• D.C. Mundy, P.A. Alspach and J. Dufay

  Grass grub damage and mycorrhizal colonisation of grapevine rootstocks.  New Zealand Plant Protection 58 (2005): 234-238
• Agnew RH, Mundy DC, Spiers TM, 2002. 

  Mulch for Sustainable Production. 

  Booklet produced for Marlborough District Council ISBN No. 0-478-06833-6.

• D.C. Mundy

  A review of the direct and indirect effects of nitrogen on botrytis bunch rot in wine grapes   New Zealand Plant Protection 61 (2008): 306-310

• R.M. Beresford, K.J. Evans, P.N. Wood and D.C. Mundy

  Disease assessment and epidemic monitoring methodology for bunch rot (Botrytis cinerea) in grapevines.  New Zealand Plant Protection 59 (2006): 355-360

Full Publications List