Plant & Food Research NZ: VinEye - Grapevine Leafroll Disease Sensing Technology

Opportunity for

• Autonomous robotic technology providers who could provide image gathering capability.
• Wineries who are willing to participate in future trials.
• Research partners who are working on other disease sensing projects who seek collaboration opportunities.

Opportunity description

Industry challenge

Grapevine leafroll disease is a significant problem for the wine industry worldwide and is estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars in lost productivity in New Zealand alone. GLD is only visually apparent on vines for a short window around harvest time and detection of the disease can be difficult, requiring trained staff to walk rows undertaking assessments.

GLD causes vines to produce smaller bunches and prolongs the time it takes for grapes to ripen, thus reducing yield and productivity. Detection is challenging as infected vines have distinctive red leaves, which can be confused with other conditions that may not affect the quality of wine or yield.

Current opportunity

Over the last three years scientists at Plant & Food Research have been working with a leading New Zealand agritech company on a cutting-edge disease detection tool known as VinEye. Plant & Food Research developed the VinEye algorithm, which has learnt through machine learning how to instantly analyse photographs of grapevines and identify vines infected with the costly disease, grapevine leafroll disease (GLD).

The aim of the VinEye technology is to provide a faster, more accurate and more cost-effective alternative to manual detection by skilled professionals.

Having proven the model the focus has now shifted to deploying the system at scale utilising autonomous robotic technology and further integrating the VinEye algorithm with our commercial partners.

We are seeking to connect with:

• Autonomous robotic technology providers who could provide image gathering capability.
• Wineries who are willing to participate in future trials.
• Research partners who are working on other disease sensing projects who seek collaboration opportunities.

Potential other applications

We have other research projects that aim to develop sensing technology for other economically significant diseases in many crops.