Comparison of aerial and ground spraying applications in controlling fusarium crown rot in wheat

English (OpenAlex)

Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is a chronic disease in many regions of the world in wheat, caused by Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium pseudograminearum, and Fusarium graminearum. The operational efficacy of pesticide applications using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) significantly affects the biological efficacy of the pesticides. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicle and field sprayer applications in controlling crown rot diseases frequently observed in wheat crops in the Thrace region, Turkey. A licensed fungicide containing the active ingredients, prochloraz plus trifloxystrobin plus cyproconazole mixture was applied to wheat during the ZGS 27 growth stage. The disease severity, disease incidence, and the effectiveness of fungicide treatment on disease severity (%) were evaluated for F. culmorum crown rot disease. The results showed that the severity of the disease during the seedling stage was 11.25% and 18.33% for unmanned aerial vehicle and field sprayer applications, respectively. In the harvest stage, the incidence of disease was 28.33%-39.99% and 48.75%-51.25%, respectively, and the effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicle application was found to be high, approximately 52.00%, during the seedling and harvest stages. The unmanned aerial vehicle, acting similarly to the field sprayer, exhibited higher grain quality under conditions of stress from disease. Furthermore, spike weight, grain weight, and number of grains exhibited stronger positive correlations compared to unmanned aerial vehicle treatment. Therefore, unmanned aerial vehicles have promising potential as viable options to manage FCR when the prevailing environmental conditions are not conducive to the use of field sprayer. The results of this research will guide future studies to investigate the efficacy of UAVs on a wider range of pesticides and to further develop the technology to investigate its effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability in agricultural applications. Keywords: fusarium crown rot, fungicide, unmanned aerial vehicle, field sprayer, spraying drone DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20241705.8553 Citation: Köycü N D, Özyurt H B, Çelen İ K. Comparison of aerial and ground spraying applications in controlling fusarium crown rot in wheat. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2024; 17(5): 73-80.