CropWatch SA provides grapegrowers with timely information on the potential risk of important diseases and pests like downy mildew, powdery mildew, black spot and light brown apple moth (LBAM).

It is a service begun by the Riverland Grape Industry Committee (RGIC), local Horticultural Bureau, pest monitoring services (including Fruit Doctors from Loxton and Horticultural Pest Management Services (HPMS) from Mt Pleasant) and other industry bodies, in association with plant pathologists and others from Primary Industries South Australia (PISA) and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) at Loxton Centre.


How CropWatch SA Riverland works

CropWatch SA has established a network of 13 automatic weather stations (AWS) at strategic locations in vineyards around the Riverland (from Waikerie in the west to Renmark in the east). Each AWS and vineyard site is serviced by staff from experienced commercial vineyard monitoring services (Fruit Doctors and HPMS).

The vineyard monitors assess current levels of diseases and pests and relay that information to the computer in the CropWatch SA office at Loxton Centre. The AWS monitor vineyard canopy temperature, RH, leafwetness, and rainfall every minute and compile averages for every 10 minutes.

Each week (or more often during wet weather), the AWS data are automatically sent to the CropWatch SA computer. Here the data are checked for accuracy before being processed by AusVit, the decision support software recently developed by CRC for Viticulture. The risk of the important diseases and pests as determined by AusVit, are then linked with recommendations on the preferred management options for that time.

Aim

CropWatch SA’s main objective are to provide information on :

• disease and pest warnings for each district
• when to spray
• when NOT to spray
• the best options for control

Potential benefits to grapegrowers and winemakers :

• reduced crop loss (in 1992-93 downy and powdery mildew caused crop losses of 10-15%)
• reduced production costs (with, usually, fewer sprays)
• maximise grape quality (fewer spray residues and less contamination by powdery mildew affected bunches