Deep Planet introduces VineSignal technology to South Australian wineries

South Australian grape growers and wine producers will benefit when UK-based Agritech Deep Planet chooses Adelaide to open its Australian headquarters and introduce its VineSignal platform in Australia.

With the support of the South Australia Landing Pad, the business will be able to expand its market presence to enhance the sector’s capabilities and competitiveness.

Deep Planet specialises in large-scale vineyard monitoring to predict grape health, irrigation, yields and maturity, and plans to further develop tools including automatic monitoring of disease, nutrition and carbon emissions in the upcoming growing season.

By combining their expertise in satellite imagery, computer vision and machine learning, they can bring real benefits to growers and winemakers by presenting data in a practical way. This can lead to greater efficiency, better quality grapes and ultimately a more profitable industry.

“Last season we launched our VineSignal platform commercially in Australia and saw an exceptional level of adoption of our technology. This gave us the confidence to invest in South Australia,” said Deep Planet CEO Sushma Shankar.

This attraction of Deep Planet further complements South Australia’s space and agriculture ecosystem, allowing for job creation and expertise.

“The South Australian government has clearly demonstrated to us the relevant skills and expertise in space, machine learning and winemaking that we can leverage, which makes it a natural fit for us,” said Shankar.

VineSignal’s technology has already attracted the attention of numerous customers, including global wine producer Pernod Ricard Winemakers. As one of their first users, they implemented a project on 1,000 hectares in South Australia for the 2021 season.

After the initial project, Pernod Ricard Winemakers national vintner Philip Deverell remains enthusiastic about the technology.

“Deep Planet has demonstrated amazing capabilities, helping us to better predict yields, manage maturity and variability in our blocks,” said Deverell.

“With all of our producer vineyards and estates having to monitor and plan their consumption against ever-changing climatic conditions, this is definitely the way our industry needs to go if we are to remain globally competitive.”

The South Australian government has provided Deep Planet with funding through the South Australian Planting Grounds to help establish them in the state.

“Our state is known for attracting some of the world’s leading innovative companies and Deep Planet’s expertise is aligned with the state government’s priorities to develop our key sectors such as food, wine, agribusiness, space and high technology,” South African Trade and Investment Minister Stephen Patterson said.

“With South Australia’s worldwide reputation for wine, Deep Planet’s innovative technology will provide much-needed opportunities and enhance the global competitiveness of an industry that relies heavily on exports.”

The South Australian planting site helps companies strengthen their presence in the state, not only by creating jobs locally, but also by networking with local suppliers, partners, customers and employees.