U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer the Agriculture Department’s (USDA) Agriculture Research Service (ARS) to provide a robust investment in new equipment for the Grape Genetics Research Unit (GGRU) in Geneva, NY.
Schumer said upgrades to the GGRU’s technology are necessary to ensure researchers have the state-of-the-art tools needed to respond to the research needs of a rapidly-changing grape and wine industry.
Specifically, Schumer said researchers at the laboratory need new sensing equipment and increased computing capacity so they are better equipped to help growers with the development of new, innovative strategies to transform the grape and wine industries and spur production across New York.
To address the needs of scientists and researchers, Schumer called on the USDA and ARS to invest in mobile and static digital data sensors and robotic tools on field-mounted vineyard equipment for the GGRU. Schumer said this equipment would help enable scientists to collect real-time data on crop canopy, insect and disease pressure, and water and nutrient stress.
Additionally, digital sensors, working in combination with new varieties of pest- and disease-management systems developed at Geneva, would allow scientists to provide growers with integrated digital management systems to create economic and environmental efficiencies.
Schumer also said ARS must invest in increased computational capacity for the GGRU. This is necessary to fully utilize the data generated from the digital sensing systems, and allow for the development of models that can be deployed by commercial vineyard growers in New York and beyond.
With more than 1,630 family vineyards, 400 wineries, and almost 40,000 acres of cropland, the New York grape crop alone is valued at over $52 million and generates $4.8 billion in economic benefits annually for New York State.