S16 - Session P1 - Fixed spraying system PulVeFix: a future way to apply Plant Protection Products in apple orchards?

Authors: Florence Verpont *, Sébastien Baillon

Currently, the main technique used for the application of crop protection products in tree fruit production is air blast spraying. This technique has the major disadvantage of generating a high dispersion of crop protection products. However, since a few years, the constraints on their application have been increasing in order to limit their impact on humans and on environment. Spray applications in certain sensitive areas are already strongly on the decline. They are less accepted by the public, sometimes technically difficult to achieve (off-target drift related to materials and application techniques) and can generate risks for the immediate environment of the treated trees (fauna, flora, operators, bystanders and residents). Urbanization is taking residents closer to cultivated areas, confronting them with certain issues (noise from the sprayer and the tractor, allergic reactions and diseases linked to the products applied). In this context, CTIFL (Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Fruits et Legumes, France) and its partners have designed and evaluated a new fixed spraying system on foliage, as an alternative to the use of sprayers. The project's objectives were to 1) design an optimized, efficient and sustainable prototype of fixed overhead spraying, on an experimental scale 2) evaluate the agro-environmental performances of this technology by means of quantitative indicators. The results show a reduction in application time (30 seconds/ha), a high significant reduction in off-target drift, satisfactory efficacy on scab as well as Lepidopteran pests and storage diseases, and the fruits comply with Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) at harvest. A lot of work remains to be done in the coming years on this transfer step in order to adapt the size of the PulVeFix system according to the configuration of the farms.