China's wine industry uses genetics and AI to tackle climate change: Video
China's wine industry is taking proactive steps to adapt to climate change by developing hybrid grape varieties that can withstand extreme weather.
At an experimental vineyard, Xie Jun, the head of the project, explained that their goal is to combine desirable traits from parent vines - such as cold and drought resistance from one, and superior fruit quality from another - to create resilient grape species. Continuous hybridisation, he says, will lead to grapes better suited to survive harsh conditions while maintaining high quality.
Director of the Grape Quality Improvement and Regulation Laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dai Zhanwu emphasises the importance of predicting how vineyards will perform over the next several decades as climate change worsens. His team uses mathematical models to predict the impact of various climate scenarios on wine production.
"We want to know if we plant some vineyards in a given position, whether that position will keep the sustainability in the context of climate change. So what will happen in the next 10 years, 30 years or 50 years or 100 years. So to do that we have to use a coupling of prediction of climate with different scenarios. And also with a mathematical modelling work to see what will be the performance of the wine," he told the AFP.
In Beijing, hybrid grape species are being tested using artificial intelligence to analyse their ability to thrive in challenging climates. The initiative is part of China's strategy to ensure sustainability in its emerging wine industry, as climate change increasingly disrupts global wine production.
According to industry reports, worldwide wine output fell by 10% last year due to extreme environmental events such as droughts and fires.
