Reduction In Pesticide Usage Research Articles

Sustainable Tea Initiatives with the Adoption of Inhana Rational Farming Technology to Address the Principles of Regenerative Farming for Crop Sustainability and Reduction of Pesticide Usage

Sustainable Tea Initiatives with the Adoption of Inhana Rational Farming Technology to Address the Principles of Regenerative Farming for Crop Sustainability and Reduction of Pesticide Usage

Case Studies on Sustainability-Oriented Innovations and Smart Farming Technologies in the Wine Industry: A Comparative Analysis of Pilots in Cyprus and Italy

Addressing the urgent sustainability challenges in the wine industry, this study explores the efficacy of sustainability-oriented innovations (SOIs) and smart farming technologies (SFTs) across wine value chains in Cyprus and Italy. Utilising a mixed-methods approach that includes quantitative analysis through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and qualitative assessments to understand stakeholders’ perspectives, this research delves into the environmental, economic, and social impacts of these technologies. In Cyprus, the integration of digital labelling and smart farming solutions led to a substantial reduction in pesticide usage by up to 75% and enhanced the perceived quality of wine by an average of 8%. A pilot study in Italy witnessed a 33.4% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, with the additional benefit of a 5.3% improvement in intrinsic product quality. The pilot introduced a carbon credit system, potentially generating an average annual revenue of EUR 4140 per farm. These findings highlight the transformative potential of SOIs and SFTs in promoting sustainable practices within the wine industry, demonstrating significant advancements in reducing environmental impact, improving product quality, and enhancing economic viability. This study underscores the critical role of innovative technologies in achieving sustainability goals and provides a compelling case for their wider adoption within the agricultural sector.

Pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) management strategy, dissemination and impact assessment in India

The recent emergence of pink bollworm (PBW), Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) has posed serious ecological and economic implications for cotton production in India since 2017. The project “Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM): Dissemination of pink bollworm management strategies in Bt-cotton” was implemented consecutively for four years from 2018 -19, 2019–20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 in 21 districts across three cotton growing zones of the country. In each year, field demonstrations were conducted on 1050 acres of cotton area and mass awareness was created through outreach activities. With concerted and focused efforts, the PBW infestations could be brought down by 42.75% in 2018–19, 43.49% in 2019–20, 35.55% in 2020-21 and 33.77% in 2021-22 in the demonstration plots over the farmer practices. An increased benefit: cost ratios of 2.16:1, 2:1, 1.89:1 and 2.24:1 were realized during 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020-21 and 2021–22, respectively. Similarly, the average number of sprays for the control of cotton pests during the season was reduced to 5.02, 4.94, 5.19 and 5.18 in integrated pest management (IPM) fields as compared to 6.98, 7.66, 8.07 and 8.20 in non-integrated pest management (NIPM) fields in the corresponding years. Reduction in pesticide usage in IPM vs NIPM fields was 46.39% in terms of cost, and 38.96% in terms of volume during 2019-20 while concurrent percent reduction in pesticide usage was 41.03 & 39.33 during 2020-21 and 40.70 & 39.38 in 2021–22. Comparatively more seed cotton was harvested from IPM than NIPM fields i.e. 2190 vs 1820 kg/ha in 2018–19, 2049 vs 1715 kg/ha in 2019–20, 1881 vs 1585 kg/ha in 2020-21 and 1901 vs 1607 kg/ha in 2021–22. Significant success in reducing PBW infestation, pesticide usage and corresponding improvement in yield, economic benefits and environmental quality in terms of reduced EIQFUR has been achieved through IPM demonstrations. This area-wide success was achieved through collective efforts and active involvement of all concerned stakeholders.

Influence of climate change and pesticide use practices on the ecological risks of pesticides in a protected Mediterranean wetland: A Bayesian network approach

Pollution by agricultural pesticides is one of the most important pressures affecting Mediterranean coastal wetlands. Pesticide risks are expected to be influenced by climate change, which will result in an increase of temperatures and a decrease in annual precipitation. On the other hand, pesticide dosages are expected to change given the increase in pest resistance and the implementation of environmental policies like the European ´Farm-to-Fork` strategy, which aims for a 50 % reduction in pesticide usage by 2030. The influence of climate change and pesticide use practices on the ecological risks of pesticides needs to be evaluated making use of realistic environmental scenarios. This study investigates how different climate change and pesticide use practices affect the ecological risks of pesticides in the Albufera Natural Park (Valencia, Spain), a protected Mediterranean coastal wetland. We performed a probabilistic risk assessment for nine pesticides applied in rice production using three climatic scenarios (for the years 2008, 2050 and 2100), three pesticide dosage regimes (the recommended dose, and 50 % increase and 50 % decrease), and their combinations. The scenarios were used to simulate pesticide exposure concentrations in the water column of the rice paddies using the RICEWQ model. Pesticide effects were characterized using acute and chronic Species Sensitivity Distributions built with toxicity data for aquatic organisms. Risk quotients were calculated as probability distributions making use of Bayesian networks. Our results show that future climate projections will influence exposure concentrations for some of the studied pesticides, yielding higher dissipation and lower exposure in scenarios dominated by an increase of temperatures, and higher exposure peaks in scenarios where heavy precipitation events occur right after pesticide application. Our case study shows that pesticides such as azoxystrobin, difenoconazole and MCPA are posing unacceptable ecological risks for aquatic organisms, and that the implementation of the ´Farm-to-Fork` strategy is crucial to reduce them.

Impacts of Green Production Behaviors on the Income Effect of Rice Farmers from the Perspective of Outsourcing Services: Evidence from the Rice Region in Northwest China

Along with the increasingly prominent contradiction between agricultural development and a healthy ecological environment, the adoption of agriculture green production (AGP) methods has become an important measure to reduce excessive pesticide application, avoid ecological environmental pollution and promote sustainable agricultural development. However, few studies have explored the impact of green production behaviors on the revenue effect from the perspective of outsourcing services, and existing studies have not subdivided outsourcing into multiple categories to examine their impact. In this study, the first-hand data of 447 rice farmers in Ningxia and Shaanxi in northwest China were collected. By using the endogenous switching regression model (ESR), we focuses on the influence of rice farmers’ AGP behaviors on their income effect, and analyzed whether outsourcing service categories can promote rice farmers’ AGP behaviors and income. The results showed that outsourcing services significantly promoted AGP behaviors and the income of rice farmers. Specifically, outsourcing pesticide application showed the greatest effect on the reduction of pesticide usage, rice harvesting after a safe interval after pesticide application, and the income of rice farmers; weeding and harvesting outsourcing had less effect. These indicate that outsourcing services can improve environmental and economic benefits by reducing pesticide input costs, to promote rice farmers to engage in AGP behaviors. Moreover, green production behaviors help to increase the income of rice farmers. If rice farmers who have not implemented AGP conduct physical control behaviors, their income will increase by 23.110%; the reduction of pesticide application ranks the second, and their income will increase by 5.970%. The implementation of rice harvesting at the safe intervals after pesticide application had the lowest degree of improvement, and the farmers’ income will increase by 4.505%. The study provides data for promoting outsourcing services and AGP in developing countries. Therefore, the government should further improve outsourcing services and AGP policies to maximize the income of rice farmers in low- and middle-income areas.

TobSet: A New Tobacco Crop and Weeds Image Dataset and Its Utilization for Vision-Based Spraying by Agricultural Robots

Selective agrochemical spraying is a highly intricate task in precision agriculture. It requires spraying equipment to distinguish between crop (plants) and weeds and perform spray operations in real-time accordingly. The study presented in this paper entails the development of two convolutional neural networks (CNNs)-based vision frameworks, i.e., Faster R-CNN and YOLOv5, for the detection and classification of tobacco crops/weeds in real time. An essential requirement for CNN is to pre-train it well on a large dataset to distinguish crops from weeds, lately the same trained network can be utilized in real fields. We present an open access image dataset (TobSet) of tobacco plants and weeds acquired from local fields at different growth stages and varying lighting conditions. The TobSet comprises 7000 images of tobacco plants and 1000 images of weeds and bare soil, taken manually with digital cameras periodically over two months. Both vision frameworks are trained and then tested using this dataset. The Faster R-CNN-based vision framework manifested supremacy over the YOLOv5-based vision framework in terms of accuracy and robustness, whereas the YOLOv5-based vision framework demonstrated faster inference. Experimental evaluation of the system is performed in tobacco fields via a four-wheeled mobile robot sprayer controlled using a computer equipped with NVIDIA GTX 1650 GPU. The results demonstrate that Faster R-CNN and YOLOv5-based vision systems can analyze plants at 10 and 16 frames per second (fps) with a classification accuracy of 98% and 94%, respectively. Moreover, the precise smart application of pesticides with the proposed system offered a 52% reduction in pesticide usage by spotting the targets only, i.e., tobacco plants.

Emergent Ascomycetes in Viticulture: An Interdisciplinary Overview.

The reduction of pesticide usage is a current imperative and the implementation of sustainable viticulture is an urgent necessity. A potential solution, which is being increasingly adopted, is offered by the use of grapevine cultivars resistant to its main pathogenic threats. This, however, has contributed to changes in defense strategies resulting in the occurrence of secondary diseases, which were previously controlled. Concomitantly, the ongoing climate crisis is contributing to destabilizing the increasingly dynamic viticultural context. In this review, we explore the available knowledge on three Ascomycetes which are considered emergent and causal agents of powdery mildew, black rot and anthracnose. We also aim to provide a survey on methods for phenotyping disease symptoms in fields, greenhouse and lab conditions, and for disease control underlying the insurgence of pathogen resistance to fungicide. Thus, we discuss fungal genetic variability, highlighting the usage and development of molecular markers and barcoding, coupled with genome sequencing. Moreover, we extensively report on the current knowledge available on grapevine-ascomycete interactions, as well as the mechanisms developed by the host to counteract the attack. Indeed, to better understand these resistance mechanisms, it is relevant to identify pathogen effectors which are involved in the infection process and how grapevine resistance genes function and impact the downstream cascade. Dealing with such a wealth of information on both pathogens and the host, the horizon is now represented by multidisciplinary approaches, combining traditional and innovative methods of cultivation. This will support the translation from theory to practice, in an attempt to understand biology very deeply and manage the spread of these Ascomycetes.

Site-specific orchard sprayer equipped with machine vision for chemical usage management

The considerable spacing between trees along orchard rows causes a lot of pesticides to be wasted by conventional continuous spraying which is not targeted to the tree canopy and therefore releases a lot of toxic chemicals to the environment. In order to solve this problem, a site-specific orchard sprayer was designed and developed by using machine vision technology which applies a precise amount of pesticide based on the tree green canopy and improves chemical application efficiency in orchards. Laboratory and field tests were conducted to evaluate its performance. During laboratory tests, green and white papers were mounted along a line at 2.70 m above the ground, while a camera was used to record the on and off time of the spraying nozzles. During the field tests, the sprayer performance and deposition of pesticide on tree branches and the empty spaces between the trees were evaluated by placing water sensitive papers at different locations. Field performance of the sprayer in an olive orchard was evaluated in two conditions of continuous and discrete-targeted spraying both at three forward speeds and four replications. The results showed that discrete-targeted spraying resulted in 54% less chemical consumption compared with conventional continuous spraying. Further reduction of pesticide usage is expected in newly established orchards with younger trees and larger intra-row spacing.

Ultrasonic sensing of pistachio canopy for low-volume precision spraying

Effective volume rate of pesticide application on a site-specific basis can reduce the amount of agrochemicals used in precision horticulture. The prototype sprayer used in this study provided volume application rate adapted to the canopy volume in pistachio orchards on a real-time and continuous basis. An electronic control system for the detection and estimation of tree canopy dimensions was designed for application rate adjustment. Three ultrasonic ranging USS3 sensors were utilized to estimate the distance to the target at three different heights. A MLP neural network with gradient-descent back-propagation algorithm, tangent-sigmoid transfer function, and 3-7-6 topology was used for volume estimation of tree sections. Training and validation errors as well as R2 values indicated the reliability of the network for volume prediction. Results of T-test for comparing the number of spray droplet impacts, coverage of (artificial) target, spray quality parameter and relative span factor between variable-rate and conventional spraying were not significant which indicates the consistency of spray distribution in selective application. Experiments showed a reduction in pesticide usage of about 34.5% by means of variable-rate technology (41.3, 25.6 and 36.5, respectively for the top, middle, and bottom sections of tree canopy). Precise application of agrochemicals reduces both costs and environmental pollution by supporting a decrease in the amount of delivered spray.

AN INVESTIGATION OF CHILLING REQUIREMENT OF SOME SCAB RESISTANT APPLE CULTIVARS IN PO VALLEY

In order to improve the quality of fresh produce, in terms of food security, reduction of pesticide usage, preserving the environment and health of farmers, many scab resistant apple cultivars were released from several institutions, mainly located in temperate zones during the last years. The cultivation of temperate fruit trees in tropical and subtropical areas, where scab is one of the main diseases, could benefit from introduction of these cultivars, for the reasons cited above. Unfortunately, the indication of chilling requirements has been often missed in the pomology characteristics of the cultivars, although blossom and harvesting times are indicated. In order to provide more information on this matter some scab resistant apple cultivars planted in 2002 were tested. During the winter season 30 one-year-old twigs and 30 shoots with spurs were taken from the trees every week and kept with their bases in water and in a growth chamber for 20 days at 21°C. Apical and lateral buds that grew were both counted and evaluated as to percentage of the total and as to bud development stage. Temperatures during the winters were recorded and both the Richardson and Dynamic Model formulae were tested. The onset of bud break and the end of rest in the one-year-old shoots and in the spurs were assessed by means of the ratio between the chilling units (CU), the chill portions (CP), and by the above mentioned indexes, applying two parameters (% bud break or burst and bud development stage). Significant regressions were observed between the indexes and CU and CP. Throughout the years the prediction of end of the rest was generally lightly better when Dynamic Model was used. The two different buds varied in length of endo-dormancy within cultivars; this can modify the value of their chilling requirement. In the Po Valley the evaluation of the chilling requirement of some apple cultivars resistant to scab showed that low and mid-low cultivars are available and could be grown in tropical and subtropical zones.

Effectiveness of a Reduced-Risk Insecticide Based Bed Bug Management Program in Low-Income Housing.

Bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) infestations are becoming increasingly common in low-income communities. Once they are introduced, elimination is very difficult. As part of the efforts to develop effective and safe bed bug management programs, we conducted a laboratory study evaluating the efficacy of a reduced-risk insecticide—Alpine aerosol (0.5% dinotefuran). We then conducted a field evaluation of a reduced-risk insecticide based integrated pest management (IPM) program in low-income family apartments with young children. In laboratory evaluations, direct spray and 5 min exposure to dry Alpine aerosol residue caused 100.0 ± 0.0 and 91.7 ± 8.3% mortality to bed bug nymphs, respectively. Direct Alpine aerosol spray killed 91.3 ± 4.3% of the eggs. The IPM program included education, steam, bagging infested linens, placing intercepting devices under furniture legs and corners of rooms, applying Alpine aerosol and Alpine dust (0.25% dinotefuran, 95% diatomaceous earth dust), and regularly scheduled monitoring and re-treatment. Nine apartments ranging from 1–1,428 (median: 29) bed bugs based on visual inspection and Climbup interceptor counts were included. Over a 6-month period, an average 172 g insecticide (Alpine aerosol + Alpine dust) was used in each apartment, a 96% reduction in pesticide usage compared to chemical only treatment reported in a similar environment. The IPM program resulted in an average of 96.8 ± 2.2% reduction in the number of bed bugs. However, elimination of bed bugs was only achieved in three lightly infested apartments (<30 bed bugs at the beginning). Elimination success was closely correlated with the level of bed bug populations.

Variability in pesticide use as a factor in measuring and bringing about reduction in pesticide usage in apple orchards

National pesticide reduction targets have largely been based on a percentage reduction in either the number of sprays applied or tonnage of pesticide used or both. These approaches imply a uniformity in pesticide use among the farmers comprising the industry. Data from a three-season integrated pest and disease management study in New South Wales, Australia, showed over 200% variation in the number of both fungicide and insecticide sprays applied by different apple growers in the same season. The total amount of pesticide applied (in kilograms per hectare) also varied between farmers by around 200%. Regression analysis showed no correlation between the number of fungicide sprays applied and the percentage of fruit infected with apple scab or between the number of insecticide sprays and the amount of insect damage recorded. Observations were made in ten orchards where pest and disease levels were monitored and advice given, and in a further ten orchards where no advice was provided. Decisions on fungicide use were left to the farmers in both groups, but advised growers were requested to use reduced rates of protectant fungicides. Pest control recommendations were based on thresholds. Except in the first season, when advised growers used more fungicide treatments, there was no difference in mean pesticide use by the two groups. Anecdotal information suggests that variation in acceptance of risk accounts for a large proportion of the differences in pesticide use in different orchards. The consequences of these findings in establishing pesticide reduction strategies are discussed.

Breeding rootstocks for tree fruit crops

Abstract Identification of problems and prioritising breeding objectives based on those problems are essential first steps in a rootstock improvement program. For all tree fruits, incorporating resistances to critical diseases and pests will facilitate fruit production in a social environment demanding reduction in pesticide usage. Diseases caused by various Phytophthora species are important and can be catastrophic for all major tree fruit crops; breeding for resistance to Phytophthora has generally been successful. Very large initial seedling populations are required to permit suitably rigorous early screening; the breeding team should anticipate odds of l:104to 1:106 that any given seedling will be commercially successful. In preliminary orchard tests, positive selection for dwarfing and precocity induction can be made by the fifth year. More rigorous second tests should be made with a number of commercial varieties in several locations. Although almost all rootstock improvement programs now rely on conventional breeding methods, through application of genetic engineering, the Mailing 26 apple (Malus domestica) rootstock has been successfully transformed from being highly susceptible to fire blight to being moderately resistant.