Effect of different pesticide sprayers on beta-cyfluthrin EW for controlling the peach fruit moth (Carposina niponensis Walsingham) in orchard

Abstract:【Objective】Currently, the domestic research on plant protection equipments were mostly concentrated in the deposition amount of pesticide on the leaves. However, the researcher did not pay much attention to the final controlling effect of plant protection equipments. Although there was a large gap for orchard machinery operation level between China and developed countries, the research direction was consistent. It should be noted that the literatures about the systematic comparison of the control effect of pesticide spraying equipments in high density orchard were little. Therefore, in this paper, the efficiency of different pesticide spraying equipments for the controlling peach fruit moth was studied in order to improve the efficiency of pesticide and decrease the amount of pesticide application. 【Methods】The plunger pump motor sprayer, knapsack manual sprayer and smoke and fog machine were involved in the study.Firstly, the aspect of spraying time, the water amount of application and control effect on peach fruit moth,the pore size of nozzle film of plunger pump motor sprayer was selected. Then under the suitable pore size of nozzle film, plunger pump motor sprayer, knapsack manual sprayer and smoke and fog machine werecompared.【Results】The effect of pore size of nozzle film on the control effect of plunger pump motor sprayer was studied. The results showed that except under the condition of φ1.4 mm pore size of nozzle film and 3 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application, the control effect was 78.81%, all the other treatments had over 91% efficacy on 5 days after pesticide spraying. Moreover, the difference became more obvious on 10 days after pesticide spraying. For all pore size of nozzle film, the control effects of 3 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application were lower than that of 4 L per tree and 5 L per tree. When 4 L per tree and 5 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application were used, the control effects of φ1.0 mm and φ1.4 mm pore size of nozzle film were higher than that of φ0.7 mm. The lower control effect of 3 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application and φ0.7 mm pore size of nozzle film became no obvious on 15 days after pesticide spraying compared with other treatments. Except on the condition of φ1.0 mm and φ1.4 mm pore size of nozzle film and 3 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application, the control effect was relative lower, the difference of control effects among other treatments was not significant. On the condition of 4 L per tree and 5 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application, the control effects of plunger pump motor sprayer with three pore size of nozzle film were all over 90%, and no significant difference was observed. On the condition of 3 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application, the control effects of φ0.7 mm and φ1.0 mm pore size of nozzle film were significantly higher than that of φ1.4 mm. Compared to the control effect of 4 L per tree and 5 L per tree of the water amount of pesticide application, the difference of control effect of 3 L per tree was no significant.With the decrease of pore size of nozzle film, the spraying time of the same water amount of pesticide application became long. The spraying time of φ0.7 mm pore size of nozzle film was the longest. And on the condition of φ0.7 mm pore size of nozzle film, nozzle clogging could occur on the average of once every 1-2 trees. So the φ0.7 mm pore size of nozzle film was difficult to be used in the production practice. The spraying time of φ1.4 mm pore size of nozzle film could be saved about 2 min·plot^-1 compared with φ1.0mm. Moreover, the spraying time of φ1.4 mm pore size of nozzle film could be saved 30-40 min according to the calculation of 80 trees per 666.7 m2. However, the water amount of pesticide application per tree was difficult to control during extensive and continuous spraying by the impact of the relatively large pore size of nozzle film and instability of frequency of manual operation. Thus the water amount of pesticide application for field would be relatively high. As a whole, φ1.0 mm pore size of nozzle film and 3 L per tree of application amount were suitable for the plunger pump motor sprayer. Based on theφ1.0 mm as the recommended pore size of nozzle film, the control effect of plunger pump motor sprayer was compared with that of knapsack manual sprayer and smoke and fog machine. Overall, the control effects of plunger pump motor sprayer and knapsack manual sprayer could be up to 90% during 5-15 days after pesticide spraying and there was no significant difference. Moreover, the control effects of plunger pump motor sprayer and knapsack manual sprayer were higher than that of smoke and fog machine. The average spraying time of plunger pump motor sprayer was shortest and the average spraying time of knapsack manual sprayer was the longest.【Conclusion】φ1.0 mm pore size of nozzle film and 3 L per tree of application amount were suitable for the plunger pump motor sprayer. The plunger pump motor sprayer was recommended for controlling peach fruit moth in high density orchard and the knapsack manual sprayer was appropriate for using in the small area of spraying and the small canopy.