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Vineyard experimentation in Australia: motivations, approaches and implications for change
conference contribution
posted on 2023-05-24, 21:04 authored by Xinxin Song, Katherine EvansKatherine Evans, Saideepa KumarSaideepa Kumar, Bramley, RExperimentation is important for farmers to sustain and improve farming businesses. We interviewed 35 grape growers and 8 viticultural consultants across Australia to investigate why and how experiments are conducted during grape production, the perceived value of current approaches and opportunities for change. The interviewees conduct experiments, often over several seasons, to learn about alternative practices, to gain knowledge, to enhance confidence in changing practice, and to solve problems. Trial approaches are diverse. Growers value conclusive, robust results for confident decision-making; however, they are constrained by available time, labour and lack of efficient, objective measurement of crop responses. Spatial variability in land is viewed as a contributor to non-uniform fruit yield and composition and recognised as a factor confounding trial results. Growers’ desire for robust results and challenges related to variability suggest a need for efficient approaches that incorporate spatial information and generate more useful information for more confident decision-making.
Funding
Wine Australia
History
Publication title
OFE2021 Book of AbstractsDepartment/School
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)Event title
OFE2021 - Farmer-centric On-Farm ExperimentationEvent Venue
Montpellier, France / OnlineDate of Event (Start Date)
2021-10-13Date of Event (End Date)
2021-10-15Repository Status
- Restricted