No abstract

Adjuvants are tools to maximize pesticide spray quality. This study aimed to evaluate the interaction effects between adjuvants and the fungicide azoxystrobin + benzovindiflupyr on the physicochemical characteristics, droplet evaporation time, and spray droplet size. The experiment was carried out using a 26 factorial scheme, in which the first factor was the absence or presence of the fungicide mixture (water or water + fungicide) and the second factor was the presence of different adjuvants (water and five adjuvants). The parameters evaluated were surface tension, pH, viscosity, electrical conductivity, droplet evaporation time, volume median diameter, percentage of droplets smaller than 100 µm, and relative amplitude of the droplet spectrum. The silicone and propionic acid + soy lecithin adjuvants reduced the pH of the spray solution, and the sodium lauryl ether sulfate, propionic acid + soy lecithin, and orange essential oil adjuvants reduced droplet evaporation when mixed with the fungicide. All tested adjuvants improved spray quality related to the characteristics of the droplet spectrum, reducing the percentage of droplets smaller than 100 μm, and allowing more uniform droplet size. The fungicide azoxystrobin + benzovindiflupyr affected droplet evaporation time.

The hardness and pH of the spray water can interfere with the weed control effectiveness with herbicides, but it is not clear the magnitude of this interference, mainly associating different levels of pH and hardness to different glyphosate formulations. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of hardness and pH, in association, of the water used in the application of two glyphosate formulations on the weed control effectiveness. The experiment was conducted in duplicate, in areas with a predominance of Digitaria horizontalis, under a randomized block design with a 4×4×2+1 factorial scheme, composed of four water hardness levels (70, 110, 230, and 430 ppm CaCO3), four pH levels (3.5, 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5), two glyphosate formulations (ammonium salt and potassium salt), and control without application, with four repetitions. The physicochemical characteristics of the spray solutions and the weed control effectiveness were evaluated at 7, 14, and 21 days after application (DAA). The water pH at the studied range did not interfere with the control effectiveness. The increase in hardness reduced the control at 7 DAA, but this difference was not noticed after 21 DAA. Glyphosate ammonium salt promoted higher control of D. horizontalis than that with potassium salt, regardless of water hardness and pH.

No abstract

The recent availability of soybean cultivars with resistance to dicamba herbicide has increased the risk of injury in susceptible cultivars, mainly as a result of particle drift. To predict and identify the damage caused by this herbicide requires great accuracy. The objective of this work was to evaluate the injury caused by the simulated drift of dicamba on soybean (nonresistant to dicamba) plants assessed visually and using the Triangular Greenness Index (TGI) from images obtained from Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). The study was conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replications during the 2019/2020 growing season, and the treatments consisted of the application of six doses of dicamba (0, 0.28, 0.56, 5.6, 28, and 112 g acid equivalent dicamba ha−1) on soybean plants at the third node growth stage. For the evaluation of treatments using the TGI technique, spectral data acquired through a Red Green Blue (RGB) sensor attached to an RPA was used. The variables studied were the visual estimation of injury, TGI response at 7 and 21 days after application, plant height, and crop yield. The exposure to the herbicide caused a reduction in plant height and crop yield. Vegetation indices, such as TGI, have the potential to be used in the evaluation of injury caused by dicamba, and may be used to cover large areas in a less subjective way than visual assessments.

The present work aimed to determine the toxicity of linalool and evaluate the lethal and toxic effects of linalool associated with pyrethroids in binary mixtures to fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). The insects used in the experiment were obtained from stock breeding initiated from larvae collected from conventional corn plants, grown in an experimental area, in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. Also, it was obtained essential oil from a variety of Ocimum basilicum, with a high content of linalool (80%), found naturally, as a measure of comparison of different linalool (97.5%) assays. Dose-response bioassays with 3rd instar larvae were performed to determine lethal dose for 50% mortality (LD50) of linalool. Toxicity tests were also performed with O. basilicum essential oil and with pyrethroid insecticides: deltamethrin and its commercial product (Decis 25 EC, Bayer®). After this, combinations between different doses of these products were made and applied on 3rd instar larvae of Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith). Linalool presented high toxicity to S. frugiperda (LD50 = 0.177 μL a.i. μL-1). It was observed neurotoxic effects after the linalool application since the insects presented an aspect of confusion, followed by extreme agitation and finally death. All binary mixtures caused mortality higher than the products applied alone (deltamethrin and linalool) used at 100% LD50, except to 75% LD50 deltamethrin added to 25% LD50 linalool, whose mortality did not differ the products alone, in 24 hours. It was obtained over 90% larval mortality when linalool was combined with 25% LD50 of deltamethrin, in 24 and 48 hours after application, and over 80% of mortality when linalool was combined with 25% LD50 of Decis, only in 48 hours after application. We conclude that linalool is a potential insecticidal and can be associated with pyrethroids to control of S. frugiperda. Further studies are required in order to evaluate the synergistic combinations against field populations of S. frugiperda.

Aphis gossypii Glöver is one of the main cotton insect pests, causing significant losses in the crop. In order to reduce these damages, frequent applications of insecticides are carried out, despite reported cases of resistance. One auxiliary tool of resistance management is the combination of natural and synthetic products because the combinations can deliver comparable or greater pest toxicity while reducing the necessary dose of the synthetic molecules, thus maintaining its effectiveness. Therefore, the present work evaluated the toxicity of Ocimum basilicum essential oil, the synthetic insecticide thiamethoxam and the combination of these in the control of cotton aphid. The acute toxicities of thiamethoxam and the essential oil were obtained through dose response assays; then, combinations of the two products were assessed. The essential oil had a high concentration of linalool and it exhibited toxicity to the cotton aphid. The combination of the two products caused high mortality, particularly when they were applied as the LD 50 of the thiamethoxam + LD 50 of the essential oil and the 50% LD 50 of the thiamethoxam + 50% LD 50 of the essential oil. This work concludes that O. basilicum L. essential oil combined with thiamethoxam may be an alternative in the population management of the cotton aphid and may contribute in the future to the management of resistance and reduce the environmental impact of pesticides.

This study aimed to evaluate the dicamba residue after cleanout procedures in sprayers with different tank materials (fiberglass and polyethylene) and its effects on the symptomology of non-dicamba tolerant (DT) soybean. The experiment consisted of spraying rinsates collected during a cleanout of boom sprayers on non-DT soybean at the V3 stage. Once the dicamba solution was mixed in the sprayer tank and sprayed, four rinses were made, and for each rinse, a sample was collected. The dicamba residue analyses in each rinse solution were conducted in a completely randomized design with three replicates in a 2 × 4 factorial scheme, corresponding to two sprayer tank materials (fiberglass and polyethylene) and four rinses, using High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC). The evaluation of the potential risk of injury on non-DT soybean caused by dicamba residue was conducted in a randomized block design with four replicates and a 2 × 4 + 1 factorial scheme, corresponding to two types of sprayer tank material (fiberglass and polyethylene), four rinses, and control (without application). The dicamba was effectively removed using at least three rinses regardless of spray tank material. Fiberglass tank sprayer retained more residue in the first rinsate, but similar to polyethylene tank sprayer in the following rinses. Plant height was reduced by spraying rinsates collected from the first rinse regardless of tank material. In contrast, visual estimation of injury and reduced yield were observed due to the rinsate application collected from the first and second rinses.