Pesticide applications in commercial vineyards rely largely on the use of air assisted sprayers for the application of insecticides, fungicides, growth regulators and foliar feeds.
This short course focuses on vineyards (Wine, Dessert Grapes & Raisins) as one of South Africa’s most important export agricultural products. The risk of market rejection due to general crop quality issues and/or phytosanitary pest and disease like False Codling Moth (FCM) makes the optimization of application of pesticides as an integral part of an IPM program one of the keys to sustained and growing market share.
The following optimized outcomes are the objectives to be reached for a successful IPM integrated spray program:
• Commercially acceptable levels of control, resulting in the optimum crop quality and yield.
• Sustainable levels of control, preventing resistance to already scarce chemical formulations.
• Residue levels are not to be exceeded, preventing market rejection of the crop.
• Phytotoxicity is to be prevented, minimizing reduction in crop quality.
• Soil and ground water contamination are to be minimized or prevented, supporting future long-term use of these scarce and non-renewable natural resources.
• Air pollution is to be minimized, protecting the livelihood of man.
• Damage to neighboring crops is to be prevented.
• The lowest possible Carbon footprint is to be achieved, reducing the cost of the operation and contributing to environmental sensitivity against global warming.