Research and Innovation

Defity

Efficiency of Medium-Volume (500 L/ha) Fungicide Application with Defity Adjuvant in the Control of Apple Diseases. São Joaquim, SC – 2018/19 Season

Table 9. Evaluation of the efficiency of high-volume (1,200 L/ha) and medium-volume (500 L/ha) fungicide applications with the Defity adjuvant for the control of Gala Leaf Spot in ‘Gala’ apples. Santa Isabel Experimental Field, São Joaquim/SC. 2018/19 Season.

Fungicide application dates (see Table 3).
Means followed by the same letter in the column do not differ from each other according to Duncan’s test (P = 0.05).
In all fungicide applications, the Defity adjuvant (200 mL/ha) was added.

In this study, the medium-volume application (500 L/ha) resulted in:

Reduced water use
Less spraying time needed to cover the area
A 16.6% reduction in fungicide volume per hectare (Table 3)

This was possible because, in the PDI medium-volume method, doses were adjusted for an application reference of 1,000 L/ha.

Conclusions

Medium-volume application (500 L/ha) with the addition of Defity (200 mL/ha) to fungicides is highly efficient in the control of apple scab and Gala Leaf Spot on leaves and fruits of Gala and Fuji cultivars.
It does not cause russeting in the fruits of these cultivars.
Its performance did not differ from the high-volume application (1,200 L/ha) commonly used by growers.
The PDI method, when combined with the Defity adjuvant, provides higher droplet density on leaves compared to high-volume spraying (HV), improving coverage and efficiency.