Spray adjustments based on LWA concept in vineyard. Relationship between canopy and coverage for different application settings

Summary Crop-adapted dosing of agrochemicals, i.e. dose adjustment has been widely discussed in previous research. In all cases, the main goal has been to adapt the total amount of plant protection products (PPP) to crop characteristics, but the most difficult aspect seems to select the most suitable crop parameter to be used for dose expression. This situation has resulted in a recent proposal by the European agrochemical manufacturing industry to harmonise, across Europe, the efficacy evaluation stage of pesticide registration based on Leaf Wall Area (LWA) concept. However, other than the problem of the “dose expression unit”, which expresses the product quantity in relation to the treated area, the achievement of an adequate and optimal volume rate for an intended canopy must be established and determined separately. This research present the results obtained during the spray process on a vineyard plantation (var. Merlot) using an IRIS multi-row sprayer (Ilemo-Hardi, S.A.U.) Three different adjustments were evaluated from low (250 L 10000 m -2 ) to high (500 L 10000 m -2 ) LWA, maintaining in all cases the same nozzle size (Albuz ATR lilac) and forward speed. Average canopy height was 0.8 m. In order to evaluate the effect of canopy characteristics other than crop height, a LIDAR sensor was used for a complete canopy characterization. Research was arranged in order to obtain the relation hip between canopy characteristics and the most adequate amount of liquid for a homogenous canopy wall.