Current Status of the Management of Plant Protection Product Containers in Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, Vietnam

Every year, thousands of tons of plant protection product (PPP) containers are indiscriminately discharged into the environment as toxic waste that has a negative impact on the land, water, and air environment as well as public health. This study surveyed the use of PPPs in rice cultivation, and the generation of hazardous waste (HW) when using pesticides, specifically pesticide packaging and containers in Long Kien and Long Dien B communes, Cho Moi district, An Giang province, Vietnam. Data collection was conducted through direct interviews, mainly collecting personal information of farmers in the surveyed area, the current situation with regard to pesticide use, container management, environmental awareness, and proposals for hazardous waste management from the farmers’ perspectives. The results show that local farmers are aware of the harmful effects of pesticide containers, but they are not able to make use of effective methods of collecting and treating the waste containers properly. Based on the survey results, several solutions are proposed for managing HW in order to reduce environmental pollution from the use of pesticides, minimize the impacts of HW on people's health, and contribute to local sustainable development.

Stability of Dry and Liquid Metschnikowia pulcherrima Formulations for Biocontrol Applications against Apple Postharvest Diseases

The yeast Metschnikowia pulcherrima is frequently isolated from environmental samples and has often been reported to exhibit strong antagonistic activity against plant pathogens. In order to assess the potential of this species for its development into a plant protection product, the survival during formulation and storage were quantified and field efficacy was assessed over a period of five years. Freeze dried and liquid M. pulcherrima formulations (i.e., with skim milk powder (SMP), sucrose, glycerol, xanthan, without additives) were prepared and the number of viable cells was quantified during storage at different temperatures. Field trials against apple postharvest diseases (Neofabreae) were performed with different dry formulations. M. pulcherrima proved exceptionally stable for many months and even years. Five years of field trials with the yeast revealed variable effects, but reduced Neofabreae infections of stored apples were observed in some years. M. pulcherrima applications after prior fungicide treatments repeatedly showed an additive effect as compared to the fungicide treatments alone. In summary, M. pulcherrima exhibited highly advantageous storage properties and encouraging activity against apple postharvest rots. Further studies to identify the factors responsible for antagonistic activity in the field and survival during storage are expected to lay the foundation for the future development of a plant protection product.

Dynamics of λ-cyhalothrin disappearance and expression of selected P450 genes in bees depending on the ambient temperature

Temperature has a significant influence on the action of pyrethroids, and their effect increases with decreasing ambient temperature. Using gas chromatography, we assessed the degradation rate of λ-cyhalothrin, active ingredients (AI) of Karate Zeon 050 CS from pyrethroid group, in bees incubated for 48 h under different temperature conditions. With RT-qPCR method, we studied expression levels of selected cytochrome P450 genes after exposure to the plant protection product (PPP). The half-life of λ-cyhalothrin decreased from 43.32 to 17.33 h in the temperature range of 21–31°C. In animals incubated at 16°C, the AI half-life was even shorter and amounted to 10.19 h. The increase in temperature increased the expression of Cyp9Q1, Cyp9Q2, and Cyp9Q3 in the group of control bees. We showed a two-fold statistically significant increase in gene expression after treatment with PPP bees. The obtained results indicate that honey bees are characterized by susceptibility to pyrethroids that vary depending on the ambient temperature. This may be due to the different expressions of genes responsible for the detoxification of these PPPs at different temperatures.

ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF THE GENUS BACILLUSBACTERIA AS AGAINST THE PHYTOPATHOGEN ALTERNARIA SP.

Alternaria blights caused by microscopic fungi of the Al-ternariagenus are widespread diseases of crops and or-namental plants. Russian and foreign scientists take an active part in developing biological products based on an-tagonistically active microorganisms. However, the situa-tion regarding Alternaria blight is still unfavorable. The re-search goal was to study the antifungal activity of the ge-nus Bacillusstrains against the phytopathogen Alternaria sp. The agar block method was used to determine the an-tagonistic activity of 8 rhizospheric bacilli strains (B. pu-milus4, B. pumilus5, B. pumilus6, B. pumilus7, B. licheni-formis8, B. licheniformis9, B. licheniformis10, and B. pu-milus16). All investigated strains showed themselves as antagonists in relation to Alternaria. On the 14th day of the experiment, the diameter of the Alternaria sp. in the control was 85.83 ± 8.78 mm. The following values of the phyto-pathogen mycelium diameter were recorded in dishes with bacilli: B. pumilus4 -10.00 ± 0.87 mm, B. pumilus 5-12.17 ± 0.76 mm, B. pumilus 6-11.33 ± 1.26 mm, B. pu-milus7 -8.00 ± 3.00 mm, B. pumilus16 -7.67 ± 0.29 mm. Alternariasp. did not grow beyond the 5 mm diameter block with all B. licheniformisstrains. Bacteria of the B. licheniformisspecies had a more pronounced antifungal effect (100%) than the B. pumilusstrains (91.13-96.70%). B. licheniformis8, 9, 10 and B. pumilus16, 7, 4 strains are primarily recommended for inclusion in a biological plant protection product against Alternariablight

Compensatory Application Provisions of Plant Protection Products to Protect Biodiversity

For the protection of biodiversity, the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) pursues the goal of establishing compensation areas to balance unavoidable indirect effects on nature and the environment caused by the application of plant protection products. Whether there is a legal basis for this within either European Union or national law is one of the most debated and pressing issues currently in the authorisation procedure for plant protection products in Germany. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive legal assessment of whether it is legally permissible to make plant protection product authorisations contingent to compensatory application provisions to protect biodiversity.

Together for the Better: Improvement of a Model Based Strategy for Grapevine Downy Mildew Control by Addition of Potassium Phosphonates

Grapevine downy mildew is one of the major diseases in viticulture. To control this disease, a more effective strategy has been developed and established based on growth and model data as well as on a combination of fungicides. For this purpose, the systemic plant protection product potassium phosphonate (PP) was combined with two contact fungicides. Treatments were carried out according to the different experimental conditions after the growth of 400 cm2, 600 cm2, and 800 cm2 leaf area per primary shoot. PP increased the effectiveness of the preventive fungicides whenever high infection pressure was the case. The experiments also show that it is possible to extend the treatment intervals from 400 cm2 to 600 cm2 new leaf area when PP was added. However, none of the tested treatments were sufficient for the extension to intervals of 800 cm2. These data show that PP can be a key factor in the reduction of the application of synthetic or copper-based fungicides.