Evaluation of the Intelligent Sprayer System in Peach Production

Plant Disease ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 104 (12) ◽  
pp. 3207-3212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Boatwright ◽  
Heping Zhu ◽  
Adam Clark ◽  
Guido Schnabel

Air-blast sprayers are routinely used to apply pesticides in commercial peach orchards, with growers using both conventional air-blast and ultrasonic sensor-driven models. Even with advanced spray technologies, there are still concerns with the amount of chemicals used and lost to drift. Our study evaluated a laser sensor-based variable-rate sprayer system in three experimental peach orchards for pest and brown rot disease control, spray volume output, spray coverage, and spray drift. A single 378-liter air-blast sprayer was used for both the conventional air-blast and the Intelligent Sprayer (iSprayer) treatments. Treatments were started at the phenological stage of bloom and continued through final swell. The iSprayer treatment was as effective in controlling pests and brown rot disease as the conventional air-blast treatment. Compared with the conventional air-blast treatment, the iSprayer treatment reduced the spray volume (liters/hectare) in cultivar PF23 by 71% at bloom, 62% at pit hardening, and 55% at final swell. For Juneprince, the spray volume reduction was 50% at bloom, 40% at pit hardening, and 13% at final swell. Spray drift was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced only at bloom in the iSprayer treatment. Spray coverage was increased by 50.13 and 26.67% in the iSprayer treatment at bloom and pit hardening, respectively, but not at final swell. Our results show that the iSprayer maintained pest and disease control efficacy in peach orchards while reducing spray volume and drift compared with the conventional air-blast treatment.

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Nadia Lyousfi ◽  
Rachid Lahlali ◽  
Chaimaa Letrib ◽  
Zineb Belabess ◽  
Rachida Ouaabou ◽  
...  

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of both antagonistic bacteria Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (SF14) and Alcaligenes faecalis (ACBC1) used in combination with salicylic acid (SA) to effectively control brown rot disease caused by Monilinia fructigena. Four concentrations of salicylic acid (0.5%, 2%, 3.5%, and 5%) were tested under in vitro and in vivo conditions. Furthermore, the impact of biological treatments on nectarine fruit parameters’ quality, in particular, weight loss, titratable acidity, and soluble solids content, was evaluated. Regardless of the bacterium, the results indicated that all combined treatments displayed a strong inhibitory effect on the mycelial growth of M. fructigena and disease severity. Interestingly, all SA concentrations significantly improved the biocontrol activity of each antagonist. The mycelial growth inhibition rate ranged from 9.79% to 88.02% with the highest reduction rate recorded for bacterial antagonists in combination with SA at both concentrations of 0.5% and 3.5%. The in vivo results confirmed the in vitro results with a disease severity varying from 0.00% to 51.91%. A significant biocontrol improvement was obtained with both antagonistic bacteria when used in combination with SA at concentrations of 0.5% and 2%. The lowest disease severity observed with ACBC1 compared with SF14 is likely due to a rapid adaptation and increase of antagonistic bacteria population in wounded sites. The impact of all biological treatments revealed moderate significant changes in the fruit quality parameters with weight loss for several treatments. These results suggest that the improved disease control of both antagonistic bacteria was more likely directly linked to both the inhibitory effects of SA on pathogen growth and induced fruit resistance.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1496
Author(s):  
Sohyun Bae ◽  
Jae Woo Han ◽  
Quang Le Dang ◽  
Hun Kim ◽  
Gyung Ja Choi

Plants contain a number of bioactive compounds that exhibit antimicrobial activity, which can be recognized as an important source of agrochemicals for plant disease control. In searching for natural alternatives to synthetic fungicides, we found that a methanol extract of the plant species Platycladus orientalis suppressed the disease development of rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae. Through a series of chromatography procedures in combination with activity-guided fractionation, we isolated and identified a total of eleven compounds including four labdane-type diterpenes (1–4), six isopimarane-type diterpenes (5–10), and one sesquiterpene (11). Of the identified compounds, the MIC values of compounds 1, 2, 5 & 6 mixture, 9, and 11 ranged from 100 to 200 μg/mL against M. oryzae, whereas the other compounds were over 200 μg/mL. When rice plants were treated with the antifungal compounds, compounds 1, 2, and 9 effectively suppressed the development of rice blast at all concentrations tested by over 75% compared to the non-treatment control. In addition, a mixture of compounds 5 & 6 that constituted 66% of the P. orientalis ethyl acetate fraction also exhibited a moderate disease control efficacy. Together, our data suggest that the methanol extract of P. orientalis including terpenoid compounds has potential as a crop protection agent.


Agriculture ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vitus Ikechukwu Obi ◽  
Juan José Barriuso ◽  
Yolanda Gogorcena

The peach is one of the most important global tree crops within the economically important Rosaceae family. The crop is threatened by numerous pests and diseases, especially fungal pathogens, in the field, in transit, and in the store. More than 50% of the global post-harvest loss has been ascribed to brown rot disease, especially in peach late-ripening varieties. In recent years, the disease has been so manifest in the orchards that some stone fruits were abandoned before harvest. In Spain, particularly, the disease has been associated with well over 60% of fruit loss after harvest. The most common management options available for the control of this disease involve agronomical, chemical, biological, and physical approaches. However, the effects of biochemical fungicides (biological and conventional fungicides), on the environment, human health, and strain fungicide resistance, tend to revise these control strategies. This review aims to comprehensively compile the information currently available on the species of the fungus Monilinia, which causes brown rot in peach, and the available options to control the disease. The breeding for brown rot-resistant varieties remains an ideal management option for brown rot disease control, considering the uniqueness of its sustainability in the chain of crop production.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunpeng Wang ◽  
Xiaoli Wang ◽  
Jingfeng Zhu ◽  
Huan Wei ◽  
Zhipeng Ding ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 899-911
Author(s):  
Tingting Yan ◽  
Heping Zhu ◽  
Li Sun ◽  
Xiaochan Wang ◽  
Peter Ling

Abstract. Precision variable-rate spraying technology is needed for controlled-environment plant production in greenhouses. An experimental spray system for greenhouse applications was developed for real-time control of individual nozzle outputs. The system mainly consisted of a high-speed laser scanning sensor, 12 individual variable-rate nozzles, an embedded computer, a spray control unit, and a 3.6 m long mobile spray boom. Each nozzle was coupled with a pulse-width modulated solenoid valve to discharge sprays at variable rates based on target presence and plant canopy structure. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the spray control system in respect to spray delay time, nozzle activation, and spray volume using four target objects of different regular geometrical shapes and surface textures and two artificial plants of different canopy structures. Other experimental variables included three detection heights from 0.5 to 1.0 m and five sensor travel speeds from 1.6 to 4.8 km h-1. A high-speed video camera was used to determine the delay time and nozzle activation in discharging sprays on target objects after the laser sensor had detected the objects. The detection height and travel speed were found to have slight influence on the timing of nozzle activation. The nozzles started spraying in a range between 33 and 83 mm before reaching the target objects and stopped spraying between 13 and 84 mm after passing the objects, ensuring that the objects were fully covered by the spray. Spray volume corresponded to the object sizes well, and the spray control system performed with higher accuracy at lower travel speeds. Differences between the calculated spray volume based on the sensor detection and the actual spray volume ranged from 1.9 to 2.7 mL per object among all tested objects. The variable-rate control system reduced spray volume by 29.3% to 51.4% for all the objects compared with conventional constant-rate spraying. At the same time, the nozzles could be activated precisely by the object presence. Consequently, this experimental laser-guided system was implemented on a boom system in a commercial greenhouse for future investigations of its accuracy in variable-rate spraying to save pesticides, water, and nutrients. Keywords: Automation, Intelligent sprayer, Pesticide, Precision spray technology, Boom spray equipment.


Author(s):  
Azmi Razak ◽  
Nur Zainudin ◽  
Siti Sidiqe ◽  
Nor Ismail ◽  
Nik Mohamad ◽  
...  

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Jiang ◽  
Chengming Tian

Nut quality is fundamental to the economic viability of the Chinese sweet chestnut industry, but fruit rot disease significantly reduces this quality. In this study, we investigated chestnut rot in Anhui and Hubei provinces in China. Typical brown rot symptoms were observed, affecting nuts from different plantations. Isolates were obtained from symptomatic tissues of rotted fruits that were identified based on morphological comparison and phylogenetic analyses of partial internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and tef1 and tub2 gene sequences. The inoculation results showed that the tested fungal species is pathogenic to chestnut fruits. Hence, a new and severe pathogen that causes Chinese sweet chestnut brown rot, Gnomoniopsis daii sp. nov., is introduced herein.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A Van Steenwyk ◽  
Joel P Siegel ◽  
Barat Bisabri ◽  
Christian S Cabuslay ◽  
Jaimie M Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

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