Pernod Ricard Winemakers in New Zealand is one of the country’s leading wine companies, and part of the Pernod Ricard Group - the world’s second largest wine, spirits and champagne-style company, with over 240 premium brands and iconic New Zealand wines, including Church Road and Brancott Estate.
Pernod Ricard Winemakers strives to reduce environmental impacts and has an ambition to reduce pesticide application. To this end, it looked to the Smart Apply Intelligent Spray Control System and its precision spray and data solution to enable pesticide application to individual vine based on size and foliage density.
Since 2020, Pernod Ricard Winemakers has partnered with BA Pumps & Sprayers to trial innovative technology In New Zealand, implementing a BA over-the-row canopy sprayer with a Smart Apply System, the first vineyard to do so in New Zealand.
The Smart Apply System's LiDAR-based sensor technology works by detecting the canopy and assessing foliage density, before adjusting each spray nozzle to ensure it only applies pesticides where required. The result is an average of 50% reduction in chemical use, up to 87% reduction in drift, and up to 93% reduction in run off compare to conventional sprayers.
Transformation Manager for Viticulture, David Allen, has been leading the project at Pernod Ricard Winemakers. "We are always looking at ways we can reduce our environmental impact and nurture our terroirs. The LiDAR-based control from Smart-Apply fits well with our strategic goals so we were keen to investigate more and continue our trials of the technology.”
Pernod Ricard now operates three sprayers with the Smart-Apply system across 2,000 hectares of vineyards in New Zealand. The winemaker ran comprehensive comparison trials over the past two growing seasons to understand how the Smart Apply system compared to its existing sprayers. Over the vintage 2023 season, field tests using the three-row sprayer showed an impressive +30% reduction in chemical usage compared to conventional sprayers. Other impressive benefits included a reduction in spray drift.
The introduction of technology can help viticulturalists operate more efficiently, reducing chemical and water use and ,inimizing environmental impact. Say Allen, “The Smart Apply system is easy to set up and operate. The system controls the entire spraying function including turning on and off at the start and end of rows simplifying operations and making it accessible for all to use.”
Learn more about the Smart Apply Intelligent Spray Control System and find a dealer at www.SmartApply.com
Since the project began BA and Pernod Ricard Winemakers have worked closely to integrate feedback and learnings from the trials to create a sprayer which is suitable for New Zealand vineyards.
“The support from BA has been great and it has very much been a joint project the whole way. As well as the technology side we’ve been really impressed with BAs engineering, especially for the three-row sprayer which needs a lot more modification and setting up than a two row. We also liked the attention to detail. Their commitment to health and safety features for operators has been outstanding. For example, the sensors can be lowered for cleaning rather than having to climb up to reach them.” David said.
“We are very pleased with the results and have ordered three more Smart Apply system for the Vintage 2024 season. Our testing will continue to monitor the performance of the sprayers throughout their life so we can get a fuller picture of their effectiveness.” He continued.
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