National Research and Extension Priorities For the Grape Industry
Need	Region/State	Time Frame	Extension Component	Priority
Crop Genetics
Genomics
Breeding
Rootstocks
Disease/nematode resistance	All	long-term		high
Insect resistance	All	long-term		low
Cold hardiness	NW/Mid-west/NE	long-term		high
Drought tolerance	West/CA	long-term		high/med
Other stress tolerance	All	long-term		low
Effect on scion health and fruit quality	All	long-term		med
Scion
Disease resistance	All	long-term		high
Insect resistance	All	long-term		high/low
Cold hardiness	NW/Mid-west/NE	long-term		high
Biotechnology
Model systems development	All	long-term		med/low
Genetically enhanced products	All	long-term		low
Scion and rootstock evaluation
Cold hardiness	NW/Mid-west/NE	long-term		high
Environmental suitability	All	long-term		high/med
terroir	All	long-term		med/low
Crop Physiology
Vine Management
Effect of pruning on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate/short		med
Determine optimum pruning levels	All	intermediate		med
Effect of trellis system on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate/short		med
Effect of fertility regimes on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate		med
Effect of leaf and berry cluster removal on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate		med
Effect of cover crops on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate		med/high
Effect of viticultural practices on root development	All	intermediate		med
Nutrient requirements and critical levels	All	long/intermediate		high/med
Regulation of photosynthesis and carbon partitioning	All	long-term		low/med
Bioregulators	All	long-term		med/low
Fruit Management
Regulation of fruit set	All	intermediate		high/med
Regulation of fruit development, ripening, composition and flavor	All	long-term		high/med
Crop load management	All	intermediate		high
Yield forecasting	All	short		high
bioregulators	All	long-term		low
Environmental Effects
Effect of irrigation/drought on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate		high
Effect of plant water status on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate		high/med
Effect of vineyard design and row orientation on vine health, yield and fruit quality	All	intermediate		med
Factors affecting cold hardiness	NW/Mid-west/NE	long-term		high
Factors affecting winter injury	NW/Mid-west/NE	long-term		high
Edaphic Factors
Site selection/suitability	All	intermediate		high
Biosystems and Mechanical Engineering and Sensor Technology
Mechanization
Pruning/crop thinning	All	intermediate		high
Harvest	All	intermediate/short		high
Canopy management	All	intermediate		high
Cultivation including weed management	All	intermediate/short		high
Sensor technology				med
Predict fruit maturity/harvest date	All	long-term		high
Monitor plant and soil water status	All	short		med
Monitor plant and soil nutrient status	All	long/intermediate		med
Monitor yield and spatial fruit composition	All	intermediate		med
Soil and climate evaluation methods	All	long-term		med
Precision Viticulture
Site specific planting	All	intermediate		med
Variable rate applications	All	intermediate		med
Improve effectiveness and efficiency of spray systems	All	intermediate		med
Develop GPS maps that identify viticultural potential of different sites	All	intermediate		high
Use remote sensing to determine vineyard health and performance	All	long-term		med
Integrated Crop Management (Including IPM)
Vineyard Mangement
Improve canopy microclimate for improved fruit quality and disease management	All	intermediate
Evaluate vine training and trellising systems	All	intermediate		med
Evaluate influence of canopy management on vine performance and fruit quality	All	short		high/med
Develop practices to stabilize yields and improve fruit quality	All	intermediate		high/med
Organic Production Practices	All	intermediate		med
Determine the effects of cover crops on water availability and pest populations	All	intermediate		med
Disease
Develop economic thresholds for diseases of concern	All	intermediate		med
Develop models to predict onset and severity of disease and integrate recommendations for various control options	All	intermediate		high
Insure availability of disease tested rootstock and scion material	All	long-term		high/med
Develop understanding of the etiology and epidemiology of diseases of concern	All	intermediate		high
Evaluate efficacy of new pathogen control products with emphasis on low non-target impacts	All	intermediate		high
Develop BMP’s for disease prevention	All	short		high/med
Develop DNA/RNA based diagnostics for diseases of concern	All	long-term		med
Determine fungicide effects on fermentation and wine defects	All	intermediate		high/med
Arthropods				med
Develop economic thresholds for insects of concern	All	intermediate		med
Develop models to predict insect population growth and spread	All	long-term		med
Understand life cycle of insects of concern	All	short		med
Evaluate efficacy of new insecticides/miticides with emphasis on low non-target impacts	All	short		high
Develop BMP’s for insect management	All	short		high
Develop materials to aid in identification of insect pests	All	short		med
Understand the life cycle of beneficial insects and their impacts on insect pests (e.g. grape berry moth)	All	intermediate		med/high
Weeds
Develop economic thresholds for weeds of concern	All	intermediate		low
Develop non-chemical weed management tactics	All	short		high
Evaluate new herbicides with emphasis on low non-target impacts	All	short		high
Develop BMP’s for weed management	All	intermediate		med
Determine the effect of weed populations on disease and insect incidence and severity	All	intermediate		med
Regulatory
Pesticide residue analysis	All	intermediate		med
Work with IR-4 to increase registration of pest control products for grape with emphasis on low non-target impacts	All	short		high
Business Management
Economic/Fiscal issues
Business planning	All	short		med
Developing whole farm plan	All	short		med
Local, state and federal sources of financial assistance	All	short		med/low
Raising capitol	All	short		low
Bookkeeping, accounting and taxation	All	short		med
Labor Management
Regulatory compliance	All	short		high
Recruiting labor	All	short		med
Supervision and training	All	short		med
Developing and maintaining good employer/employee relations	All	short		med
Regulatory
Local ordinances and zoning issues	All	short		low/med
Aid city and county planners in understanding potential vineyard acreage in their jurisdiction as they plan for urban/suburban development	All	short		med
Consumer Issues
Evaluate and promote the potential health benefits associated with grape and grape product consumption	All	short		high/med
Renew markets for native and hybrid wine varieties	All	intermediate		high
Enology
Wine composition
Influence of viticultural practices on wine composition and flavor	All	intermediate		high
Influence of enological practices on color extraction	All	intermediate		med
Influence of enological practices on wine composition and flavor	All	long-term		med/high
Color and phenolic constituents	All	intermediate		med
Aroma and flavor constituents	All	short		med
Methods to remove “green” or unripe flavors	All	intermediate		low
Fermentations
Factors controlling stuck and sluggish fermentation	All	short		high
Yeast nutrient requirements and metabolism during fermentation	All	intermediate		med
Identification and control of sulfide production	All	intermediate		med/high
Brettanomyces	All	short		med/high
Influence of yeast strains on fermentation kinetics and sensory properties	All	intermediate		med
Management and/or elimination of problem Lactobacillus	All	intermediate		med
Malolactic fermentation: characteristics, nutrient requirements, and flavor production	All	intermediate		med
Rapid malolactic fermentation: methods to accomplish	All	intermediate		med
Reduction of ethyl carbamate	All	long-term		med/high
Fining and Stability
Sulfide removal	All	short		low/med
New filtration techniques	All	short		med
Protein stability	All	short		med
Improved fining agents	All	short		med
Heat stabilization and clarity	All	short		med
Aging
Control of microbiological contaminants during aging	All	short		high
Aging characteristics, chemistry and flavor changes	All	intermediate		med
Causes of atypical aging of white wines in the eastern U.S.	NE/Mid-west	short		med
Oak extraction during aging	All	intermediate		med
Alternatives to barrel aging	All	intermediate		low
Oxidation and browning	All	short		med
Process Technology
Waste water management	All	short		high
Reduction/removal of alcohol	All	short		low
Reduction/removal of volatile acidity	All	short		high/med/low
Removal of aldehydic/oxidized character	All	intermediate		med
Bottling
Control of cork taint	All	short		high
Alternative bottle closures	All	short		high
Sensory
Identification and characterization of aroma and flavor compounds in wine	All	long-term		med
Improved sensory evaluation and implementation of programs and systems	All	intermediate		med
Biotechnology
Support development of model systems	All	long-term		low