Project
Building the first Dutch model on grape
In the Netherlands and Belgium grape production for wine making is getting more professional by the year. Yet, physiological knowledge on growth of the used genotypes in response to local climate conditions is limited. For better prediction of crop performance and timely pruning actions, a growth model is a good tool.
Background
Currently some vineyards monitor the development of growth, Veraison and ripening in detail. Apart from crop growth, climate is registered by temperature, humidity and radiation sensors in the city vineyard in The Hague. Detailed knowledge on fruit development and associated sugar production is available at French research institutes. When current knowledge and new monitoring data are integrated, all elements for a model for Dutch grapes are available. As easy as, like we say in Dutch, harvesting low hanging fruit.
Type of research
The proposed MSc work consists of construction of a growth model for grape plants and its fruits. Since this model is new, elements of other plant models will be used to make a quick start. The programming environment (Matlab, C#, Java, etc.) is free of choice. The calibration of model parameters will be facilitated by the data collected by the growers and by known relationships from academic research in Bordeaux (France) and Geisenheim (Germany). It is recommended to visit some Dutch vineyards to get more insight in crop management in practice.