Dose Expression for Pesticide Application in Citrus: Influence of Canopy Size and Sprayer

Pesticides in three-dimensional (3D) crops are usually applied sidewise, so the vertical component must be considered for adjusting the applications. For this, different approaches have been proposed. Leaf Wall Area (LWA) was selected to express the minimum dose to be used in efficacy field trials f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAgronomy (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 1887
Main Authors Garcerá, Cruz, Fonte, Alberto, Salcedo, Ramón, Soler, Agustí, Chueca, Patricia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2020
Subjects
Aerial explosions
air-blast sprayer
Canopies
coverage
Crops
Fruits
Hydraulics
knapsack sprayer
leaf deposition
LWA
Orchards
Pesticide application
Pesticides
Plant protection
Plantations
Sprays
Trees
TRV
Vegetation
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Summary:Pesticides in three-dimensional (3D) crops are usually applied sidewise, so the vertical component must be considered for adjusting the applications. For this, different approaches have been proposed. Leaf Wall Area (LWA) was selected to express the minimum dose to be used in efficacy field trials for plant protection product (PPP) authorization in northern areas of Europe, where 3D crops are grown as narrow wall-forming structures. However, southern European areas also managed 3D crops as wide walls or globular crops with non-negligible canopy width. Therefore, a Tree Row Volume (TRV) model is thought to be more appropriate for dose expression. Furthermore, efficacy evaluations for pesticide authorization are usually carried out with manual sprayers in young plantations with medium-sized trees. However, growers normally apply PPP with air-blast sprayers in plantations of different tree sizes. The objective of this study was to determine which dose expression is more suitable in citrus orchards, as well as to analyze, in turn, the influence of the sprayer. The results demonstrated that TRV was the most appropriate for dose expression. Knapsacks and air-blast sprayers distributed the spray on the canopy in different ways, and the size of the vegetation influenced the differences between them. Moreover, knapsack sprayers produced higher ground losses, and air-blast sprayers produced higher potential drift.
ISSN:2073-4395
2073-4395
DOI:10.3390/agronomy10121887