Brushing vs. airblasting. A windless innovative application technology in viticulture

Abstract

Precision in distributing active substances over the target area is paramount in crop protection applications. In the case of vertically-positioned crops such as grapevines, this is usually achieved with the aid of airblast technology, which can subsequently lead to increased drift. To reduce this effect, a novel distribution technique for crop protection application in the form of vertically rotating brushes has been developed. In order to investigate the influence of these two distributions on application, treatments without these supporting measures were also carried out and compared. All treatments had the same effect on the infestation by Plasmopara viticola. No increased efficiency was observed with either the airblast or rotating brush support. With regard to drift, a reduction was observed with both airblast and rotating brush treatments. The use of a standard sprayer without airblast also contributes to a significant minimization of drift.