Abstract
Copper-based fungicides are largely used in agriculture in the control of a wide range of plant diseases. Applied on plants, they remain deposited on leaf surfaces and are not absorbed into plant tissues. Because of accumulation problems and their ecotoxicological profiles in the soil, their use needs to be monitored and controlled, also by using modern technologies to better optimize the efficacy rendering minimum the amount of copper per season used. In this work, we test a novel approach based on pulsed thermography to evaluate the persistence of the copper on plant leaves so that the time between two applications should be the minimum needs. We monitored the thermal response observed on different treatments of both grapevine and tobacco plants over a 3-week period. Our experimental results demonstrate that the new methodological approach based on pulsed thermography can be an effective tool to evaluate in real time the presence of copper on differently treated plants allowing a tentative quantification and, therefore, to optimize its use in the agricultural practices, according also to the European Regulation n. 1107/2009.
Highlights
Copper has been used in agriculture as a fungicide and bactericide for over a century
We analyzed the leaves of two species of plants, grapevine, and tobacco, comparing the results achieved on (i) plants treated with sterile distilled water (UC) and plants treated in the following three ways: (ii) with copper-based fungicide (CBF) (Cu), (iii) with a natural adjuvant based on galactomannan extracted from locust bean gum plus CBF (Cu/PSS), and (iv) with the natural adjuvant from locust bean gum alone (PSS)
We think that the method we propose based on the pulsed thermography (PT) technique represents a valid alternative strategy, different from those conventionally used or present in the literature, and which opens up the possibility of an investigation of metal residues on plants in field and in real time
Summary
Copper has been used in agriculture as a fungicide and bactericide for over a century. Due to the mechanical actions of wind, rain, or irrigation, the metallic material reaches the soil remaining in it as a contaminant for long periods causing bioaccumulation and toxicity to both microbial biomass and biodiversity in soil (Banu et al, 2004; Lamichhane et al, 2018; Komárek et al, 2010; Mackie et al, 2012). For this reason, the European Union by means of EU Regulation n° 1981 of December 13, 2018, has established maximum limits on CBF in organic farming at 28 kg ha−1 in 7 years. Different strategies to reduce and to optimize the use of CBF have been studied and tested at both industrial and research levels, like
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