Wine growers to tax selves to fight insect.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

The wine industry is working on a plan to tax itself to pay for research on the glassy-winged sharpshooter and the diseases spread by it and similar insects.

The plan calls for charging winegrape growers up to $3 for every $1,000 they earn on their crops. It would raise about $5 million per year for five years.

If the legislation is approved and assessments begin with next year's crop, spending on research would start in 2002.

The California Association of Winegrape Growers and the Wine Institute, an advocacy group for California wineries, have held meetings with other wine and grape industry groups to hammer out draft legislation for a statewide …