Climate-Proof Crops: The Future of Temperate Viticulture and Horticulture

This project will build drought resilience in cool viticulture and horticultural regions, largely in NSW and Tasmania, focusing on wine grapes, apples and cherries

The challenge

Fruit and wine producers in Australia’s cool-climate regions face a growing threat from declining rainfall and increasing water demand. Many of these farms rely heavily on natural rainfall and have limited access to irrigation, making them highly vulnerable during prolonged dry spells and extreme weather events. This situation not only jeopardizes crop yields and farm profitability but also the long-term sustainability of regional communities and Australia’s vital agrifood sector.

Project Title: Adapting Temperate Viticulture and Horticulture to Seasonal Drought and Climate Volatility

Funding: $7.94M from The Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund (2025 -2030)

Our response

In collaboration with leading commercial farms—including Jansz Tasmania, See Saw Wine, Tamburlaine Wines, Freeman Vineyard, Angullong Vineyard, and Mouats Farm—this project will establish long-term trials directly in the field. Our approach focuses on developing and testing innovative practices to boost yield both during and after drought periods. Key strategies include:

Maximising Rainfall-Derived Soil Water: Enhancing root system performance to help crops efficiently utilize the moisture available from rainfall.
Smart Canopy and Floor Management: Implementing strategies to increase water-use efficiency, reduce plant stress from drought, and improve overall resilience.
Optimising Supplementary Irrigation: Examining and refining methods for the delivery and scheduling of limited irrigation to ensure every drop is used effectively.

To ensure these solutions are robust and applicable across Australia, farm systems modelling will be used to quantify the economic, environmental, and agrifood production impacts under various intensities of drought and extreme weather. Findings will then be scaled to applicable zones across the country.

The goal

Our overarching goal is to reduce the risk posed by drought to perennial cropping systems that have a high dependence on rainfall and limited irrigation security. We aim to achieve this by developing and promoting practices that conserve and optimize the use of rainfall-derived soil water for plant growth and fruit production, alongside improving the delivery and scheduling of any limited supplementary irrigation.

Additional Projected Outcomes:

Improved understanding of sustainable agricultural practices under climate stress.
Validated models for water use, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas reduction.
Data-driven insights into fruit quality and plant function under water deficit.
Tailored strategies for different crops (cherries, winegrapes, apples).
Social science insights into behavioural change in rural enterprises.