Enhancing the uptake of wine industry innovations through the development of targeted extension programs

Enhancing the uptake of wine industry innovations demonstrates the value of
collecting and using market information to guide the design of targeted research
and extension programs. Targeting research and extension to meet the needs of
the grape growers and winemakers to whom it is relevant, will enhance their
adoption of the innovations, supporting their response to challenges and change,
and rewarding industry investment in research.

Market segments were identified, using a range of tools, for vine nutrition
management, soil and petiole testing, and tannin-related innovations. The
market segments described who the potential adopters were for these
innovations, and why. This information enabled collaborating Department of
Primary Industries project teams to identify additional research opportunities,
confirm or refine existing research directions, assess the size of the market for the
case study innovations and target extension to meet the markets needs.

A framework to enable agricultural innovations to be classified into types was
developed and discussed. Potentially, this framework could be employed to help
identify the extension processes best suited to promoting the adoption of
different kinds of innovations.