Spray droplet coverage achieved with different nozzles and application rates in the aerial part of sugar cane

The terrestrial application of agricultural defensives in the sugar-alchool producer sector until recently was focused on weed control. After the appearance of orange rust, a disease of agricultural importance in sugar cane production, it has become imperative to know how the application arrives at the plant canopy. In such a way, the present study was developed with the objective of evaluate the quality of the deposition in terrestrial spraying, lead in factorial project 2x2x2 (two nozzles of spraying, two rates of application and two positions of the water-sensitive papers in the canopy of plant), six repetitions, with ten papers each. It has been used the nozzles of spraying XR110.02 (plain jet of extended range) and TTJ60 - 110,02 (double plain jet, with angle of 60 degrees between itself) using the rates of application of 120 and 160L ha-1. The water-sensitive papers cards used to evaluate the deposition of the sprayings had been distributed on the leaves of sugar cane in two distinct heights (upper and lower, approximately 0,80 and 0,50 meters above ground level, arranged in horizontal and inclined with respect to the road surface, respectively). A table scanner was used to generate the digital images of the papers and evaluated the coverings through the Conta-Gotas® program. The deposition data/covering had been submitted to the variance analysis and the averages compared with the Tukey test at 5% of significance. It was observed in the superior canopy of the sugarcane a bigger covering when compared with the inferior, there was no difference between the application rates, 120 and 160L ha-1. The TTJ600110.02 nozzle promoted bigger covering the XR110.02 nozzle when using 160L ha-1 (40,34 and 36,50%, respectively).

Puccinia kuehnii; pesticide; application technology; spray volume; water sensitive papers