Industry’s best sharing info to manage grape diseases

20 June 2011

MEDIA RELEASE

Industry’s best sharing info to manage grape diseases

Hawke’s Bay grape growers frustrated by the growing incidence of downy mildew and botrytis will have an opportunity to pick the brains of some of viticulture’s best at the Focus Research Winter Workshop Seminar.

Hosted by Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc. and being held in conjunction with the annual young viticulturist and pruning competitions at Mission Estate Winery on Friday 1 July, the seminar is focusing on managing disease pressure.

“The increased periods of rainfall and humidity over the last two growing seasons has seen an increasing prevalence of downy mildew that has had growers scratching their heads. Our intention is to better arm them with information so they can manage the disease better,” says Caine Thompson, chair of the Hawke’s Bay Focus Research Group.

“And while botrytis is a long-standing challenge, there are new developments that we all need to be abreast of and being able to tap into the huge knowledge that our speakers have at no charge is an opportunity that growers would be mad to miss.”

Peter Magarey, a plant pathologist and noted Australian expert in managing powdery and downy mildew, is key note speaker and will be sharing his knowledge of new management approaches.

He is well-known to most Hawke’s Bay growers as author of a green vineyard pest and disease reference book that many use in their vineyards. He will also be conducting a two-hour vineyard ‘walk n’ talk’ on Saturday 2 July around the Gimblett Gravels and the Ngatarawa Triangle sub regions.

Other noted speakers include Peter Wood, a research scientist from Plant and Food Research, Dr Mark Krasnow, a senior lecturer at EIT, and Tim Robinson from Agrivet.

The seminar has been moved to a 1.30pm to 3.30pm time slot to avoid clashing with the Markhams Young Viticulturist of the Year competition and the Fruitfed Silver Secateurs competition being held earlier in the day.

Xan Harding, deputy chairman of Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers, will be chairing the seminar and introducing each session. A fact sheet summarising the key outcomes from the Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers’ three-year Climate Change MAF SFF project will also be available.

Mr Magarey will provide an Australian view of management and practice and report on recent international research to assist growers understand disease management and practices using a different approach and sustainable solutions.

Mr Wood will be providing an update on downy mildew control from the New Zealand perspective.

Dr Krasnow will present results from the Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers early defoliation project that looks at leaf removal pre-flowering as a tool to reduce bunch cluster compactness, botrytis incidence and Methoxypyrazine levels in finished wine.

Mr Robinson will present this season’s New Zealand Winegrowers trial work on late season botrytis control, including the use of soft botryticides and their efficacy.

The Winter Seminar is one of three informative sessions available to Hawke’s Bay grape growers during winter. New Zealand Winegrowers held Grape Day 2011 in Hastings on 16 June, a workshop that covered the causes of variability in the vineyard and the effects of that variability on winemaking.

A seminar presented by the Organic Focus Vineyard is being held on Wednesday 22 June from 2pm to 4pm at Mission Estate Winery.

Background information on keynote speaker Peter Magarey:

Peter Magarey, plant pathologist at Loxton, on the Murray River in South Australia, since 1976, has research interests in the epidemiology and modelling of the leaf diseases of grapevine, almonds and other horticultural crops.

His research has focused on improved management systems for growers to apply more efficient and safer controls for grapevine downy and powdery mildew, for almond rust, and in investigating the source and spread of Australian grapevine yellows, a phytoplasma disease of unknown source and spread.

Along with national and international colleagues with whom he works closely, he
has developed an improved understanding of the biology of both downy and powdery mildew, leading to more efficient and effective long-term management of the diseases in practical vineyard situations.

Other noted achievements include:
has initiated DMODEL™, a computer-based simulation model for grapevine downy mildew now used to assist growers manage downy mildew with a minimum of well-timed sprays;

has developed an understanding of the epidemiology of powdery mildew and introduced the term ‘episeason’ to describe the progress of an epidemic with view to improved control of the disease. The approach aims to reduce inoculum reservoirs in the long-term;

was a project leader in the construction of AusVit™, a decision support system which provides management advice for the major diseases and pests of grapes in Australia;

helped initiate CropWatch SA™, a disease and pest information service for grape growers in the Riverland, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek and Adelaide Hills, and more recently with GrowCare ™ in the Clare District, SA;

helped initiate the design and construction of the Model T MetStation™, a low-cost easily-used weather station and disease predictor for grapegrowers and other farmers to determine the influence of weather events on disease and pest events, especially downy mildew;

helped initiate the Unit Canopy Row (spray row volume) concept, an easy method for growers to calculate the optimum spray volumes by distance, to maximise disease and pest control with minimum impact on local ecology; and

has developed a prototype model of infection of the almond rust fungus.

Peter has interests in effective communication of research outputs and participates strongly in extending information to growers especially with regard to improving control of the mildew diseases. He has co-edited two books on the subject and published some 200 scientific and 160 extension papers.

Peter was in the employ of SARDI as Senior Research Scientist (Plant Pathology) for 33 years until 2009 when the position was terminated. He established his plant pathology research enterprise Magarey Plant Pathology (MPP), in October that year to continue providing a plant pathological research and development capacity for the Riverland and regions beyond. Through MPP, he continues to serve horticultural growers with the provision of GrowCare, a disease (and pest) management systems for growers to control diseases (and pests) with greater precision, increased economy and improved environmental safety.

Peter is a member of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society, the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology, the American Phytopathological Society and Australian Almonds. He was a Churchill Fellow (South Australia) in 1991 and Loxton Citizen of the Year in 2009.

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