Could this app protect winegrowers against wildfires?

Climate tech start-up Agrology has launched a new Fire Map app which enables growers to monitor active wildfires within a 20-mile radius anywhere in the world.

Wildfires are becoming a growing concern for winegrowers across the globe, as climate change and global warming increase the risk of fires breaking out, ruining crops and massively affecting livelihoods, as well as putting lives at risk.

The threat of vineyards being burned is not the only risk, as grapes can be tainted by smoke in areas surrounding the fires.

Researchers recently discovered a new chemical marker that could indicate the extent of smoke taint in wines affected by wildfires.

But the threat of fires breaking out is on the rise in many parts of the world. Wild fires ripped through the Chilean wine regions of Itata and Bio Bio in February, and the state of California in the US put new fire regulations in place at the end of last year in response to the continued risk.

“With this year’s wet winter and resulting brush growth, the 2023 fire season in the West could be unprecedented,” said Kevin Kelly, co-founder and head of software at Agrology. “We want growers everywhere to be prepared. We developed this new feature to enable them to track fires in real-time, even if they are not yet an Agrology customer.”

Agrology describes itself as a predictive agriculture platform, enabling farmers to adapt to climate change with real-time analysis and predictive insights. The Agrology platform consists of climate and carbon monitoring systems which cover wildfire smoke taint risk, extreme weather, soil conditions, pest and disease emergence, and irrigation.

The new Fire Map, which was launched this week, is available for farmers anywhere in the world to access for free via the Agrology iOS app in the Apple App Store.