The companies Agrícola Castellana, Ingeniería y Gestión and Grupo Pistacyl have been at the forefront of the wine sector with the development of a pioneering digitalization project for the grape harvest that allows knowing in real time the performance of each variety and, with it, improving the future production of the vineyard.
The project is being implemented by these companies from Valladolid in the collection of grapes from various wine-producing areas of Extremadura and Castile and Leon, through the installation of an innovative system in several grape harvesters that weighs the amount of grapes that are collected in each vine, thus tracing a detailed yield map of the plot on the ground. In this way, instead of knowing the average yield per hectare, this system determines the productivity vine by vine.
This yield map offers a visual image of the land in which, by means of an alphanumeric color code, the productivity of each vine is identified in a precise and personalized way to determine the specific treatments, fertilization and amount of irrigation that are necessary to apply in each of them, thus favoring sustainability in the cultivation of the vine.
In addition, the map serves as a basis for analyzing other data obtained through satellite and sampling, and will make it possible in the future to create predictive models of behavior of the vineyard in relation to its production, which will facilitate decision-making for the viticulturist when managing several plots, and will also help wineries to organize their production.
The system, equipped with GPS, also allows the location of the grape harvester to be monitored via mobile phone during work and to contact the driver’s cabin to provide the appropriate instructions.
This precision viticulture system has been adapted to two grape harvesters from Agrícola Pistacyl, the service company belonging to the Pistacyl Group, which were used during the Bodegas Habla grape harvest in Trujillo (Extremadura) at the end of August.
Throughout the month of September they will be used in the grape harvest of the Emina, Cuatro Rayas, Miguel Arroyo Izquierdo and Bodegas Nidia wineries, in the Rueda Denomination of Origin, concluding at the end of the month in the Durón winery, in Ribera del Duero.
In this way, and thanks to this modern technology, it will be possible to obtain yield maps of three wine-growing areas with different grape varieties, and thus obtain precise information on the maturation and vigor index of the vines in each area.
In a second phase, the project contemplates being able to extend the system to obtain data on the Brix degrees or sugar level of the grape, with which, in addition to improving production, the winegrower will also have specific information to improve the quality of the harvest.