Grapevines, just like any other plants, require a certain amount of water to grow. As water availability can vary within one vineyard block, let alone between different vineyard blocks, winegrowers have to master water management to supply enough water to each vine. In order to produce quality grapes and consequently quality wine.
In California, US vineyard irrigation is widely used to produce the highest quality wines. Due to limited water resources, winegrowers are committed to improving vineyard water usage efficiency and use natural resources more sustainably. eVineyard together with Vinduino – a Californian company, which offers IoT devices for soil moisture measuring, irrigation control, and irrigation supervision, worked on two measured case study in several California vineyards.
Results: In vineyards, where only soil moisture sensors were used in combination with ET data, the average total water savings for all the wineries were 10%. In comparison, savings up to 30% were observed in the vineyard that used fully automated irrigation technology.
Eager to learn more? Read eVineyard precision vineyard irrigation Case Study here.