Sensor based irrigation scheduling (grapevines)

Opportunity for

• IoT / technology hardware manufacturers interested in new products and services

• Digital platform developers interested in new products and services

• Agtech distributors and consultants interested in new products and services

Opportunity description

Industry challenge: Current methods for scheduling irrigation water for grapevines rely on soil moisture sensing and water availability, subjective visual assessment for signs of water stress and weather forecast and historical irrigation schedules. These approaches can encourage under and over watering of grapevines, which can cause excessive grapevine vigour or moisture stress. These outcomes can result in lower grape yield and fruit quality.

Current opportunity: Wine Australia and The University of Adelaide (UA) have developed a technology for real-time vine water status monitoring embedded in a decision support platform to optimise irrigation scheduling. The vine based sensing technology is more effective as it is independent of soil type and environmental conditions, which is crucial for irrigation timing and quantity. An opportunity exists for a range of companies interested in developing products and services using the technology.

Other opportunities: There is potential to translate the technology into other crops where tree/vine water status monitoring would enhance irrigation efficiency.