How Digital Tools Are Supporting Winegrowers: A Test Farms Success Story
- The Test Farms programme connects innovative agritech startups with farmers across Europe to validate new solutions in real field conditions. Â
- Winegrower Carmen Efe Uriarte used precision viticulture tools provided by Atfield Technologies to improve decision-making across her vineyard plots in Rioja Alavesa. Â
- Sensor-based data and forecasting models helped optimise disease prevention, harvest planning and resource use. Â
- Â Early results show potential reductions of up to 30% in spraying and up to 50% in time spent on field visits, supporting more sustainable vineyard management. Â
- Test Farms plays a key role in fostering collaboration, reducing environmental impact and supporting resilient agricultural practices across the sector.
In the heart of Rioja Alavesa, a new chapter in traditional viticulture is unfolding. Through the support of the EIT Food Test Farms programme, winegrower Carmen Efe Uriarte has been able to integrate cutting-edge technology into her vineyard operations, demonstrating how data-driven insights can strengthen both sustainability and productivity in one of Europe’s most emblematic agricultural sectors.
Carmen is the creator of Carmen Efe Uriarte Viticultura y Vino, a personal project grounded in her deep technical training and passion for the land. Although she did not come from a winemaking family, she built her path through formal studies—first as an agricultural engineer and later through a master’s degree in viticulture and oenology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. After six years working as a viticulture consultant, she made the decision to settle in the Rioja region and take on the management of a small winery in Puebla de la Barca.
Continuing a Legacy Through Innovation
The opportunity arose when she met Chuchi Muro, a local farmer retiring without a generational successor. Managing two hectares of vineyards spread across several small plots, Carmen embraced the challenge of preserving a local legacy while introducing new, more efficient practices.
“It was an important opportunity to continue a way of working that is being lost,” she explains. “Test Farms offered me a chance to explore technology applied to viticulture—something that immediately caught my attention.”
Bringing Precision Viticulture to the Field
To support Carmen’s goals, Test Farms matched her with Atfield Technologies, a startup specialising in digital tools for precision viticulture. According to Srdjan Tarić, CTO of Atfield Technologies, the company’s mission is clear: “We are turning vineyard specifics into their business advantage.”
As part of the collaboration, Atfield deployed environmental sensors across Carmen’s distributed plots. The data collected—from microclimate conditions to disease-risk indicators—is integrated with Atfield’s forecasting models, generating practical recommendations for vineyard management.
Rather than providing growers with raw data alone, the system translates information into actionable insights: when to prevent fungal diseases, how to optimise vineyard visits, and when to plan harvest dates based on ripening conditions.
Customers using the system report significant benefits, including:
- Up to 30% reduction in spraying, thanks to targeted interventions
- Up to 50% less time spent on field visits, enabled by real-time monitoring
- Improved decision-making during critical stages of the season
For Carmen, this meant a better understanding of what was happening in each plot—knowledge that directly influenced her harvest decisions. “It has helped me differentiate what has happened in one area versus another and decide the right moment to harvest,” she says. “The more data we have, the better we can make decisions and shape our wines.”
Building Bridges Between Startups and Farmers
The Test Farms programme was created by EIT Food to connect two worlds that increasingly rely on one another: agricultural innovators and the farmers who can use their solutions on the ground. As Oksana Grinevich, Project Manager at EIT Food, explains:
“Each year we launch an open call for startups and usually select around 20 to participate. We collaborate with nearly one hundred farmers across Europe, helping reduce environmental impact and build more sustainable, more resilient agricultural production.”
By facilitating real-life testing, the programme accelerates the adoption of solutions that support resource efficiency, climate resilience and improved farm performance.
A Model for the Future of Viticulture
Carmen’s experience highlights the potential of technology to support both heritage and innovation in winegrowing regions. Her story reflects a broader shift across Europe, where farmers are increasingly turning toward digital tools to navigate climate variability, sustainability pressures and labour constraints.
She encourages other winegrowers to explore these opportunities: “Everything enriches us in the end. Sharing data between regions and learning from each other helps us all improve.”
As digital transformation continues to reshape the agricultural sector, Test Farms remains committed to enabling collaborations like this one—bringing together the knowledge of growers and the creativity of innovators to build a more sustainable food system.
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