Why are holistic solutions important for viticulture and how can METOS® DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM help in grape production?

METOS® Decision Support Systems in viticulture and grape production

Meteorological information in the vineyard is of key importance for the decision-making process. It leads to the production of high-quality grapes and it is the starting point of the production of fine grapes.

With rain data and other atmospheric variables (air temperature and humidity, wind speed, solar radiation), FieldClimate provides evapotranspiration and water balance calculations, which enables the grower to optimize water management and crop productivity. Also, weather and soil conditions play an important role in making the choice when to plant new grapevines and if the grower has his grapes under full remote control, it is easier for him to manage his grape production and to set an appropriate frost defense strategy or/and manage insect population and possible diseases.

Decision support systems in grape production

Combine monitored and forecasted data to get a powerful tool, which will help you optimize your production and produce more grapes with less.

  • WEATHER MONITORING: Be prepared for frost protection. Set an SMS alarm to notify you, when frost conditions are approaching. Temperatures below – 2 °C can be lethal for your vineyard.
  • FERTILIZING MANAGEMENT: Optimize fertilization time. The best is if the spreading of the fertilizer is followed by rainfall.
  • NUTRITION MANAGEMENT: Quick soil analysis helps you apply the appropriate amount of nutrients.
  • PLANT PROTECTION MANAGEMENT: With the help of disease models, spraying window forecast, rain washout prediction and leaf growth prediction you can optimize your plant protection activities in a way to have disease free grapes.
    For example: If spraying is followed by a rainfall of 30 mm, there is a good chance that it will wash away the treatment and you will have to repeat the spraying to keep your grapes protected..
  • IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT: Optimize irrigation water use by monitoring soil moisture and with use of our water balance model.
  • HARVEST MANAGEMENT: Monitor air temperature and relative humidity in the nights before grape harvest.

Recommended equipment

A diagram of METOS solutions

Basis sensor set, needed for pest and disease monitoring of grapes includes at least a rain gauge and sensors for air temperature, relative humidity and leaf wetness. These sensors are available with iMETOS IMT200, IMT300, and IMT300-USW or some variations of μMETOS NB-IoT weather stations.

For soil moisture control we recommend soil moisture add-on Soil Moisture & Soil Temperature Sensor PI54-D.

For frost control we recommend frost add-on Wet and Dry Bulb Temperature.

For table grapes we have to install a station above the grape canopy and the sensors must be installed where grape clusters are.

Disease modeling

Grapevine downy mildew is caused by the oomycetes fungus Plasmopara viticola, which is the most disastrous vine disease. We provide disease models for many other vine grape diseases and also for insects causing damage in vine grape.

The graph shows how a long period of precipitation and leaf wetness with temperatures between 10 and 15 ° C will be followed by the downy mildew infection.

For a more detailed description (biology, symptoms, modeling) about Grape diseases, click here.

Watch your grapes grow

With our CropVIEW® camera device you can have a remote view of your vineyard, directly from your computer or phone, and see at any time how your vine grape is growing and developing.
This is just a glance of solutions that METOS® decision support system can bring to you and help you to take control of your vineyard.