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Ohio researchers report seven conclusions from studies they conducted during 2005 and 2006 to evaluate various spray equipment for their potential to control Asian soybean rust (ASR). The studies are the most thorough and comprehensive of their kind to date, says Erdal Ozkan, Ohio State University (OSU) professor and extension agricultural engineer.
“Our look at the performance of nozzles and spray equipment for both spray deposits and coverage is unique,” Ozkan says. “No other study used the different methods that we did to analyze spray equipment and nozzles together in one study.”
Here are seven conclusions from the spray studies, conducted by both OSU Extension and USDA Agricultural Research Service personnel.
A medium spray quality (rather than fine or coarse) provides better droplet penetration into the plant canopy and better spray coverage when using conventional boom sprayers.
Air-assisted delivery equipment provides better overall penetration into the plant canopy than conventional spray boom equipment does.
A flat-fan spray pattern generally performs better than a hollow cone spray pattern when using conventional boom sprayers. However, in air-assisted applications, cone and flat-fan nozzles perform similarly.
A short, low-density plant canopy helps to improve both spray coverage and spray deposits on lower and middle leaves, no matter which equipment delivers the spray.
A single-flat-fan nozzle provides better spray coverage and spray deposition than cone or dual-fan nozzles in tall, dense canopy.
A mechanical canopy opener, or a rigid bar that bends the top of the plant canopy over ahead of spraying, helps improve spray penetration when using sprayers without air assistance.
Headline fungicide has yet to be detected, within the limits of the instrumentation, on the plant stems collected for the study. Researchers are still investigating the reasons for this phenomenon.
Ready for rust
A new fungicide, plus label changes on existing fungicides, will give growers and crop advisors more choices for controlling Asian soybean rust (ASR)
Reaching rust
Results from a two-year Ohio spray study show air-assisted technologies consistently perform best in delivering fungicide below the middle and lower-leaf canopy where Asian soybean rust (ASR) is most likely to develop
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