Seminar_Kyle Freedman_10.31.22.pdf

Abstract:
The grape and wine industry is one of the most economically impactful horticultural crop industries in the US. However, perennial fruits such as grapes take up to 4 years to produce harvestable yields and require high up-front costs during establishment. This is true especially for East Coast viticulture, with high disease pressure and climate challenges frequently leading to increased management costs and early vine decline. Grapevine fruit production spans two years where the first season is characterized by dormant bud development and the second year, after a period of dormancy, fruit is produced. Prior research has shown that high light intensity and temperature during dormant bud development can increase grapevine yield. Advances in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and more efficient lighting technologies such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) can be utilized to condition young grapevine transplants for increased yields. This research project focuses on conditioning one year old grapevines using high supplemental light intensity to increase fruiting capacity and evaluating their performance in a commercial vineyard.  In addition, we will evaluate industry container size for this system as well as conduct a full economic analysis through enterprise crop budget formulation. While research on such systems is still in its infancy, potential benefits could entail reduced establishment costs for growers, greater flexibility in site-specific cultivar selection, and reduced risk of long-term systemic grapevine diseases as well as applications in speed breeding and other perennial fruit crops.