21st GiESCO International Meeting: A multidisciplinary vision towards sustainable viticulture - Travel 2019
Abstract
Dr Everard Edwards presented a paper, entitled 'To what extent does vine balance actually drive fruit composition?', and a poster, entitled 'Digitising the vineyard: developing new technologies for viticulture in Australia', at the 21st GiESCO international meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece. The GiESCO meeting is perhaps the pre-eminent viticulture conference in the world and attending it provided the author with an excellent opportunity to gain a broad understanding of current viticulture research trends in Europe. In particular, the management of abiotic stress and adaptation to climate change. In addition, the author's presence in Europe was utilised to make additional visits to institutions in Spain that are working on digital applications in viticulture. This was to assist with the management of the Wine Australia funded digital viticulture work that is lead by the author at CSIRO Agriculture & Food.
Summary
Dr Everard Edwards attended the 21st GiESCO International Meeting: A multidisciplinary vision towards sustainable viticulture, providing an oral presentation entitled 'To what extent does vine balance actually drive fruit composition?' and a poster presentation: 'Digitising the vineyard: developing new technologies for viticulture in Australia'. The conference was attended by 250 people from 22 countries, comprising of 82 oral presentations and 150 poster presentations across four themes: climate change, soil & zoning, vine genetic resources and vine. In addition there was a ‘Professional Day’, at which a range of viticulture research seen as particularly relevant to local industry participants was presented. Finally, there was an extensive technical program, which visited a range of local vineyards and wineries. Attendance at the conference provided a valuable opportunity to hear about current developments in viticulture research, as well as make/renew international contacts and emphasize the Australian expertise and capability in these areas to an international audience.
The travel included a visit to the ‘Televitis’ group at the University of Rioja, hosted by Dr. María Paz Diago, and the Agronomy group at the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture in Cordoba, hosted by José Jiménez Berni. This provided insights into the current development of new digital technologies for the vineyard in Europe.