Opti-Harvest Announces Research Collaboration with UC Davis

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – California agriculture innovation company Opti-Harvest has announced a new research collaboration with University of California, Davis (UC Davis) to develop new ways of growing wine grapes and pistachio under harsh drought and climate conditions.

The teams of scientists from Opti-Harvest and UC-Davis will use Opti-Harvest’s proprietary Opti-Filter™ devices during the study. Opti-Filter is a photoselective technology that maximizes specific light wavelengths around vines and branches. The Opti-Filter photo-selective technology turns sunlight into red-enriched scattered light, maximizing the sun’s most productive rays and filtering out those that inhibit growth and production.

Opti-Harvest has developed a family of recyclable climate-smart regenerative farm products designed for specialty crops such as wine and table grapes, citrus, pistachio, almonds, peach and avocado.

Opti-Filter is integrated into these farmer-centric field products designed to provide a protective microclimate environment, enhanced photosynthesis, improved root system development and water use and reductions in pruning, training and canopy management related labor, resulting in healthier more resilient vines and trees.

Three studies have recently been initiated:

1. Opti-Panels™ incorporated into a new trellising system designed by the UC Davis team for full mechanization of wine grape cultivation and harvest. The study will look at whether the system accomplishes the following:
   • Reducing/saving irrigation
   • Protecting from heat damage
   • Protection from rain, hail and wind
   • Increased spray efficiency / reducing drift
   • Reducing susceptibility to fungal decay of the fruit and vine  
   • Potential improvement of wine quality
   • Environmental impacts: improved carbon footprint, water-saving, less chemicals, less drift, less labor 

2. Opti-Gro™ chambers which have been well established by Opti-Harvest to accelerate growth and shorten time to production for newly planted table grapes in warm climates and wine grapes in cool climates will now be tested for similar benefits, in addition to frost protection in a cold climate in collaboration with a UC Davis UCCE team 

3. Opti-Shield™ devices will be used in young pistachio to study reduced irrigation regimes, in collaboration with another team of UC Davis scientists, while applying their new tree-training practice.

 These research collaborations involve several UC Davis horticultural scientists, including Kaan Kurtural, Chris Chen, Ken Shackel, Justin Tanner and Bruce Lampinen. 

Researchers hope this collaborative research will address important aspects of sustainable agriculture and human health including:

1. Efficient use of water in crop production
2. Optimal light manipulation to improve production and quality of fruit
3. Cost-effective canopy management practices 

“We are thrilled to be working alongside some of the country’s top scientists at UC Davis who are developing new tree/vine training designs and farming practices for improving production and harvesting,” said Yosepha Shahak Ravid, PhD, Chief Science Officer at Opti-Harvest. “Together, we will examine how the Opti-Filter approach can incorporate into the UC Davis front-line cultivation practices to create together a combined cutting-edge Climate Smart technology, in a way never done before”.  

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