Centre Projects
Vinefax – Communication of sustainable management information to the Marlborough grape industry and maintenance of a weather station network on Marlborough vineyards
Brief:The Marlborough Grape
Growers Association has operated a seasonal Vinefax
service since 1997, providing disease management support
information developed from a programme funded by Technology
New Zealand. Two of the main achievements of the research
programme were:
• the establishment of disease monitoring protocols
and the development of the Bacchus Botrytis disease
model; and
• the encouragement of “target-based spraying”
in response to infection periods, rather than calendar-based
spraying as had been standard practice in the grape
industry.
Vinefax operates as a weekly fax/email service from
November until harvest. It provides:
• a summary of weeks growing degree-days and rainfall
from 10 weather stations located in the Wairau, Waihopai
and Awatere valleys; and
• regional details and dates of any botrytis infection
periods.
Company vineyards supply details of botrytis, powdery
mildew and downy mildew incidence from monitored vineyards.
This disease data helps to alert growers when disease
development is taking place on well-managed vineyards.
Vinefax (extracted from Annual Report 2005-06)
For full copy of annual report refer About Us
