Cost Estimates and Investment Analysis for Muscadine Grapes Production in Georgia

Abstract

Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia), also known as wild grapes are native to the Southeastern United States and well adapted to the warm and humid conditions of the region. Georgia is the largest producer of mscadine grapes in the United States and has enjoyed a market niche for decades consisting of fresh fruit processed for jams, juice and wine. In recent years, precision breeding using cisgenic technology has allow the development of new disease-resistant and seedless cultivars with potentials to serve different end-use market segments. However, the profitability of muscadine grapes cultivars newly developed with cisgenic technology relative to those developed with traditional transgenic technology is still questionable. This study takes a first step in bridging the gap in the literative with the objective to estimate the costs, revenue and profitability of producing transgenic-bred muscadine grapes in Georgia using a Single Trellis System with drip irrigation. Subsequently, we plan to derive similiar estimates for a new cisgenicbred rot resistant and seedless counterpart, currently in field trials, and compare both estimates to determine which of the two has the highest economic potentials in term of profitability and or net returns to the growers.