Abstract
A field experiment on the cultivation of spring barley was carried out in the period 2009–2011 at the Experimental Farm in Czesławice (central Lublin region) on grey-brown podzolic soil derived from loess (soil quality class II). The study included 3 rates of herbicides, growth retardant and fungicides (100%, 75% and 50%) as well as different types of adjuvant (oil, surface-active, mineral). Plots without adjuvant were the control treatment. A hypothesis was made that the reduction in rates of crop protection agents by 25–50%, with the simultaneous addition of adjuvants, would allow spring barley productivity to be maintained at a level similar to that obtained under the conditions when recommended rates are applied without adjuvant. It was also assumed that particular types of adjuvant would show different interactions with specific groups of crop protection agents. It has been proved that a rational reduction in rates of crop protection agents is up to a limit of 25%, especially when an adjuvant is added to such reduced rates. This allows spring barley productivity to be maintained at the level obtained after the application of full rates (without adjuvant). But a further reduction in rates of crop protection agents by 50%, in spite of the interaction of adjuvants, results in a significant deterioration of all spring barley yield components, since such conditions lead to increased occurrence of agricultural pests (weeds, fungal diseases) as well as increased crop lodging. Among the group of adjuvants tested in the present experiment, the oil adjuvant Atpolan 80 EC showed the best interaction with crop protection agents used.
Highlights
Environmental protection considerations oblige both science and agricultural practice to address the issue related to decreased use of crop protection agents [1]
Different rates used in comprehensive crop protection involving the combined application of herbicides, fungicides and growth regulators: 100% – application of herbicides, fungicides and growth regulators at rates recommended by the Institute of Plant Protection; 75% – rates of these agents reduced by 25% relative to recommended rates; 50% – rates reduced by 50% relative to recommended rates
Irrespective of the adjuvant, the 3-year average grain yield was significantly the lowest in the plots where rates of crop protection agents (CPAs) reduced by 1/2 had been used; it was lower by about 15% relative to the treatments with recommended rates and by nearly 12% compared to the plots where CPA rates had been reduced by 1/4
Summary
Agricultural practice uses more and more frequently adjuvants – biologically inactive substances that are aiding agents – in combination with crop protection agents. They lower the surface tension of the spray solution, improve the uniform coverage of the leaf surface, facilitate better uptake of pesticides by the plant and their penetration into it, and prevent crop protection sprays from being washed away by rain, and they can compensate for a reduced dose of an active substance of CPAs [4, 5, 6]
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