Technology 4.0 in the vineyard. The ‘4.0’ world, in which everything that surrounds us is increasingly connected, is advancing decisively in many areas. It is an already consolidated reality in the wine industry, which is taking its steps through what is known as ‘Industry 4.0’.
Within this trend towards digitization and connectivity of the physical world, technology can also help the world of wine.
In this sense, DO Rueda has launched an app. It allows to know the status of each vineyard with a single click among its vine growers and winemakers.
Technology 4.0 in the vineyard
Specifically, the 1,727 members of the Rueda Denomination of Origin (Spain) will have this precision agriculture service. It will provide information on 20 thousand hectares of vineyards.
The application provides detailed and specific information on each plot in real time. It also has historical statistics and forecasts regarding rainfall, temperatures or environmental humidity. Added to this are estimated water needs in the coming days or risks in the vineyard.
Help with decision making
These data will help partners in making decisions about production, the use of water, energy or the treatments to be carried out on their plot.
This pioneering app, which is already available, allows each winegrower to register their plot and view specific information about it, without the obligation to install equipment. This is the difference, according to DO Rueda in a statement. “In other systems, information is accessed from remote meteorological stations and sometimes far from the vineyards’ plots,” they detail.
The DO Rueda pioneer in the 4.0
This is achieved through a network of stations and a “sophisticated algorithm” for data interpolation. “The algorithm calculates the information of each plot, the DO Rueda being the first Denomination of Origin in Spain to apply this high-precision technology,” they detail.
Each member of the DO Rueda can now enjoy this service, and optionally increase the precision obtained in the forecasts. Also increase the functionalities of the service, adding complements in their own plots from the same app.
To take advantage of all the functionalities of the application, the DO Rueda will organize various training sessions, aimed at explaining all the benefits that the new system offers to registered winegrowers and winemakers.
A service for optimization
“We have opted for the most advanced technology, to offer our partners this pioneering service that will help them in the daily monitoring and decision-making for each plot in order to optimize it, for example, in terms of phytosanitary treatments, allowing to carry carry out an exhaustive control of the traceability of the grape ”, assured Carmen San Martín, the president of the DO Wheel.
In this initiative, DO Rueda has had the technological support of the company Qampo, specialized in Agro 4.0 and that “has deployed all the necessary infrastructure for the service in this innovative project”, as explained by the DO itself.
This company designs and manufactures its equipment in Spain and develops, among other systems, these agroclimatic stations for automatic data processing, which provides its cloud software with the intelligence to offer precision agriculture services.
Article published at https://unbuenvino.com/