Spray mixture deposition from pesticide aerial application in banana crop

Aiming to improve the efficacy of pesticide aerial applications in banana crop, a survey of the deposits on the total line of an application was performed. The studies were carried out in Registro, State of São Paulo, Brazil, in the region named "Vale do Ribeira". An Ipanema agricultural aircraft, model 201-A, equipped with four micronairs AU 3000 was used to apply a dosage of 13.8 L.ha-1. As pesticide, propiconazole, a fungicide at 3% concentration, was mixed with spray oil. The spray mixture deposited was determined through the amount of copper oxicloride, which was added to mix via atomic absorption spectrofotometry technique. Flights in three differents meteorological conditions were carried out and the droplet samples taken above the plants and on the ground. The differences between those two deposit values were considered to be caught by the banana crop. The maximum deposits above plants in the first, second and third applications were respectively 12.5, 11.6 and 9.1 L.ha-1, while on the plants they reached 9.1; 10.1 and 7.1 L.ha-1. The droplet sampled above the crop in the first, second and third flights showed an average volume median diameter (Vmd) for the different positions relative to the line of flight of 181, 219 and 275 mm.

pesticides; aerial apllication; banana crop