The California Grape Rootstock Improvement Commission (CGRIC) has approved funding for five new research projects to support California's viticulture and grape nurseries.

The research projects will focus on challenges grape growers are facing, such as drought tolerance, graft union failure, and pathogens resistance. 

According to a release, some of the funded endeavors include evaluating alternative nursery practices to reduce graft union failure, field evaluations of drought-tolerant rootstocks using stable isotopes, and studying the impact of stress on grafted rootstocks infected with trunk pathogens.

CGRIC board chairman Chris Lindelof said the efforts are 'essential for the prosperity of the California grape and wine industries."

Since its inception, the commission has supported a broad array of cutting-edge rootstock research projects and has contributed approximately $7.5 million to fund 133 projects.

The organization has made possible a number of grape rootstock breeding advances and the release of several new rootstocks.

A few noteworthy CGRIC activities include protecting the U.S. grape collection in a foundation greenhouse, improving grapevine resilience through rootstock breeding for salt and drought tolerance, and developing a robotic platform to evaluate stress responses in rootstock germplasm.