Dried grape news Adding up the tonnes

Adding up the tonnes

PROJECT TRIALS YIELD MONITORING

As Dried Fruits Australia’s (DFA) 10 Tonne Project comes to the end of its third and final year, one last piece of the puzzle will aim to provide a clear picture of how demonstration sites are performing.

The 10 Tonne Project, which aims to demonstrate how to consistently achieve 10 tonnes per hectare, will add yield monitoring to its data collection this harvest.

This is in addition to using agritechnology to complete soil moisture monitoring, aerial imaging, microclimate monitoring and track fertiliser applications.

DFA field officer Stuart Putland said the yield monitoring equipment would be fitted to a harvester, allowing the grower to determine how different parts of a vineyard perform.

The system from Advanced Viticulture Technologies weighs fruit continuously as it moves off the delivery belt of the harvester.

It links this information to accurate GPS data, which means the project has the potential to map yield variation almost down to the individual vine.

Stuart said growers could use this technology to make decisions across their property to ensure the yields are as high as possible.

The 10 Tonne Project is funded by the Australian Government under the Murray-Darling Basin Economic Development Program. At a recent field day, growers toured 10 Tonne Project demonstration sites and had the chance to get a closer look at yield monitoring equipment.

Findings from the 10 Tonne Project will be presented at the DFA Grower Forum in April. Read more about this event, and the speakers involved, on pages 20-21. v

Below: Growers had the chance to see how yield monitoring technology would be trialled this harvest as part of Dried Fruits Australia’s 10 Tonne Project at a recent field day.

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