New trends in orchard spraying1

Abstract

Since the early part of the century, a steady move in England towards lower volume spraying of orchards has coincided with the progressive introduction of improved spraying techniques. In recent years many growers have adopted very low volume (VLV) spraying (50 litre ha‐1) using spinning‐disc nozzles with greatly reduced dose rates, often only 25% of the product label recommendation. On well managed farms, this method of spraying has been successful for several years and considerable savings have been made in pesticide use and labour for spraying. On other farms there have been pest and disease control problems but few growers have reverted to spraying at conventional volume or pesticide rates. Trials evidence from the UK and the Netherlands shows the VLV reduced dose‐rate spraying technique to be generally less effective than conventional spraying but usually sufficiently effective for commercial purposes. In the Netherlands a compromise method of low volume spraying (150–200 litre ha‐1) is being adopted on the recommendation of research and advisory services. This method of spraying is gaining popularity in England. Unfortunately, the method of application stipulated on product labels is usually restricted to a minimum water volume and a pesticide dose per ha. It might be desirable for experimental work for registration purposes to be done to explore optimum application methods for individual pesticides. This information on labels, in a simple form, might lead to the more efficient use of pesticides as well as reflecting the range of application methods in use in the industry.