Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/40615
VINEYARD Online Resources Connect U.S. Grapegrowers and Viticulturists Website communities provide access to region-specific information and research uring a session at the 2011 Unified Grape & Wine Symposium, held in Sacramento, Calif., in late January, attend- ees were introduced to eViticulture (www.eviti- culture.org), a new online resource for U.S. viticul- turists and grapegrowers. The site is a science-based information hub designed to provide growers with solid, test- ed information about all aspects of growing grapes. The Grape Community of Prac- tice (GCoP) – a nationwide group of professionals with expertise in grape production – created the site. In January, eViticulture was only a few weeks old, but it has since grown to include region-specific information for growers across the country. The site is a complement to other online resources, such as the National Grape Registry and UC Integrated Viticulture. Dr. Eric Stafne, extension and research viticulture special ist with Oklahoma State University's Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, is the proj- ect director for the GCoP. He coordinated development of 52 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT SEPT - OCT 2011 the eViticulture site, and continues to manage its operation and content. "The concept is not to duplicate what is already available, but to integrate with other online resources," he said. "The pur- pose is to make it easier to find what you need, so you either find it here or it leads you to another source." The project is the result of a success- ful 2009 grant application supported by the National Grape and Wine Initiative (NGWI) to obtain federal funding from the Specialty Crops Research Initiative. Funding is awarded and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Federal grant funds totaled nearly $422,000 to get the project up and running for an initial three-year period through August 2012. As part of the grant require- ments, matching funds from other sources have been provided from state and regional industry groups, and through offsets from salaries of professionals who provided time to the GCoP project. In addition to Stafne, others who contributed significantly to By Ted Rieger, senior feature editor the project's startup, direction and content are Dr. Ed Hellman, viticul- ture extension specialist with Texas AgriLife Extension and viticulture professor at Texas Tech University; and Dr. Keith Striegler, viticulture program leader with the University of Missouri and the Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture and Enology. The GCoP consists of 69 mem- bers representing 29 U.S. states and Canada who are primarily asso- ciated with a university (or USDA) as professional or research viti- culturists, or in a related discipline such as entomology or plant pathol- ogy. The members provide site content and are available to answer questions from site visitors. AT A GLANCE The eViticulture website is a new educational resource designed for U.S. grapegrowers. The site's "Ask an Expert" and "Grape Doctor" features give growers access to advice from 69 viticulture experts across the country. The National Grape Registry pro- vides information on clean and registered grapevine materials and clonal selections. Two California-based sites, UC Integrated Viticulture and Enology Access, provide information to growers and winemakers. WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM