Research on effectiveness of different application techniques in control of gray mold disease (Botrytis cinerea Pers. Ex. Fr.) in vineyard

The diseases caused by fungi are seriously limited both quality and quantity during growing season of vineyard. One of the major diseases of grape is gray mold (Botrytis cinerea Pers.) in Turkey. The disease could cause commonly damages on berries and clusters during maturation period. Several pesticide applications close to harvest period could significantly increase residue and cumulative limits on berries. On the other hand, late applications hardly control the disease that occured already. The number of active ingredients on grape during the season are restricted as four to five on exported products of grape by the local government. That's why, intellegent approach is needed for disease management. Efficacies of some selected fungicides used for controlling gray mold as to both traditional and electrostatic sypraying techniques were evaluated individualy with field trials carried out in 2016 and 2017 at vineyard in Alaşehir, Manisa. Besides biological effectiveness of the applications, residues of fungicides, the amounts of deposit on leaves, the rates of covarage, the numbers of drops, volume mean diameters (VMD), and drift to ground were also determined for both techniques, individually. In this research, electrostatic spraying technique was applied to control gray mold in vineyard as the first time by organising a role-model application program for the growers. Higher efficacies observed by electrostatic spraying technique with better coverage in control of gray mold disease comparing with traditional spraying technique. Besides, electrostatic spraying technique ensure low amount of pesticide residue on grape and stands out to be environmental friendly application method.