Agricultural and Horticultural Community Must Review Spraying Regimes in Response to Increasingly Unseasonal Weather



Exosect, a leading provider of environmentally conscious pest management is advising the agricultural and horticultural community to assess its ability to conduct effective crop spraying regimes during prolonged periods of inclement weather. The advice from Exosect follows the unexpected, record-breaking rainfall in the UK throughout the summer and recommends a shift to a more integrated approach to pest management practises.

Rain and wind interferes with spray timing and this can have a significant impact on success when targeting a particular stage in the pest life cycle. A successful spray application relies on a dry crop and can take up to between two to 12 hours to fully dry. Rain before, during or immediately after spraying can render the treatment ineffective. Another effect of such weather conditions can be spray drift, with the knock-on effect of contaminating waterways and gardens.

"Sadly many growers in regions of the UK have lost their entire season's crop to flooding. For those who did not, the battle to protect and nurture their crop continues," explains the Marketing Manager at Exosect, Richard Dyason. "Traditional pesticide spraying techniques rely heavily on anticipating spells of dry weather and the unpredictability of the weather we have experienced this season suggests this will become an ongoing concern."

In response to such problems associated with traditional spraying methods there are now innovative, novel and proven techniques available on the market that can be integrated with spraying regimes or as a viable alternative, to reduce or remove pesticide usage.

Exosect's range of Exosex "Active" mating disruption products don't saturate the crop with pheromone or pesticide. They use the insect pest itself to distribute a natural pheromone impregnated with Exosect's patented Entostat - a natural plant-based wax powder - that adheres to the insect pest on contact (typically via hung dispensers) and promotes an auto-confusion effect throughout its own population that halts the mating cycle before the pest can lay eggs.

In addition, Exosect is also currently involved in a Defra sponsored project with IPARC, Dow AgroSciences and Micron Sprayers, regarding the commercial development of novel spray technology that uses charged powders developed by Exosect to enhance adherence to both foliage and the target pest. The benefits of this technology will include improved overall efficacy, reduction in spray drift and pesticide application rates as well as lengthening required spray intervals.

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Agricultural and Horticultural Community Must Review Spraying Regimes in Response to Increasingly Unseasonal Weather