Participants at a demonstration event held earlier this month at Best’s Wines Great Western in Victoria saw firsthand the effectiveness of a non-chemical, autonomous method for controlling powdery mildew that is being evaluated at its Sugarloaf Creek Vineyard — the first commercial trial of the system in an Australian vineyard.
With the support of Wine Australia, and Agri Automation, Best’s managing director and vineyard manager Ben Thomson has been trialling the method — which combines a unit that emits UV-C, a form of ultraviolet light, and a Burro autonomous vehicle — in his Sugarloaf Creek Vineyard since October last year.
UV-C light has long been known to inactivate microorganisms such as fungi by damaging their cells. Because fungi actively repair their DNA that is damaged by UV light from the sun, UV-C is best applied in darkness. As a result, commercialisation of UV-C technology has been slow; few growers or vineyard staff would put their hand up to apply UV-C light to grapevines in the middle of the night. The emergence of self-driving vehicles that can deliver this technology has put the solution within reach.
The demo day not only gave participants the opportunity to ask questions of the suppliers of the UV-C unit (known as UVEX) and the Burro robot, they were also able to see the results for themselves in the Best’s vineyard. Participants didn’t have to travel far into the control rows before observing evidence of powdery mildew. The trial block proved much harder. And Ben Thomson wonders if he’d been able to set the UVEX and Burro to work even earlier in the season whether the results could have been even better.
“UVEX has the potential to reduce both the operating costs and environmental impact of disease control in vineyards, particularly for powdery mildew,” said Andy Clarke, Wine Australia’s AgTech Program Manager. “In its first season, UVEX has largely suppressed the development of powdery mildew, with no chemical sprays applied since early October, and no diesel usage.”
Andy said although the demo day participants had many questions about the system, the ability to talk openly with Ben Thomson and the suppliers of the technology was a significant step in building confidence in the technology.
