PARENT SESSION

5D + E - Risk communication + From risk mgnt to sust. mgnt?
Poster Hall
8:30 AM - Monday, 28 April 2003
Chair: Solbe, J.¹, ¹

(MOP/187) Optimisation of pesticide application rate for orchard spraying: Opportunities for risk and sustainability management.

Walklate, Peter¹, Cross, Jerry², Richardson, Geoff¹, Baker, Dave¹, Murray, Roy², ¹ Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Bedford, UK² Horticulture Research International, East Malling, Kent, UK

ABSTRACT- It has been demonstrated that the method of dose expression on many European pesticide labels, based on constant product per unit ground area, is poorly optimised for broadcast air-assisted orchard spraying applications. This presentation will describe the development and use of crop modelling and measurement systems to improve the optimisation of pesticide use and in this way contribute to the sustainability of our agriculture, through the reduction of agrochemical inputs. The predicted application rates, based on different methods of dose expression, are compared. The results are used to identify the opportunities for reducing pesticide inputs and off-target contamination without compromising biological efficacy. The presentation will also describe some of the preliminary findings of field demonstration experiments and grower trials, aimed at testing the practical use of simple information systems, to enable optimisation of application rates via Pesticide dose Adjustment to the Crop Environment (PACE) for apple orchards. The results of this research support the view that the recommended dose for typical pesticides, currently used in apple spraying, can often be reduced without significantly compromising biological efficacy. Typically, the predicted pesticide application rates for a PACE system, based on tree area density adjustment, are between 50% and 25% of the recommended dose for pre-blossom spraying and between 100 and 50% of the recommended dose for post-blossom spraying. The practical use of PACE systems therefore presents new opportunities for sustainability management. Furthermore, these systems can be used to compliment the range of risk mitigation measures that have been approved for use with existing schemes, aimed at reducing off-target contamination in the UK (e.g. Local Environmental Risk Assessment for Pesticides).

Key words: modelling, measurement , orchards, spraying