Preventive action of organosilicon treatments against disfigurement of wood under laboratory and outdoor conditions

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Cumulative Exposure Assessment of Triazole Pesticides

In the EFSA opinion on identification of new approaches to assess cumulative and synergistic risks from pesticides to human health a tiered approach for cumulative risk assessment has been proposed. The first tier is a deterministic approach using average and large portion consumption statistics. The higher tiers include probabilistic exposure assessment and Benchmark Dose (BMD) modeling. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of a higher tier assessment of cumulative exposure using probabilistic modeling in combination with the relative potency factor (RPF) approach. The RPFs are used to weigh the toxicity of each pesticide relative to the toxicity of a chosen index compound (pesticide). In this report the authors address both the short-term and long-term cumulative exposure to triazoles using different statistical model

Technological learning for innovating towards sustainable cultivation practices: the Vietnamese smallholder rose sector

Deregulation and globalisation has altered the views of public involvement in development and led to strategies focusing on private sector participation. An implicit assumption seems to be that these linkages will enhance the technological capacity of smallholder producers by way of more cost-efficient technologies trickling down through the value chain or by quality requirements inducing best practices. The argument put forward in this paper is that sustainable non traditional agricultural chain development requires more purposeful actions and institutional transitions, both in the public and private spheres, targeting improved upstream innovative capacities. Empirical findings from a Dutch-Vietnamese partnership on sustainable floriculture development are used. Research revealed that the pest and disease control solutions applied by smallholder rose growers were incremental adaptations of experiences obtained in former food crop cultivation practices. Floriculture however may require more drastic changes in cultivation practices to make the sector more environmentally benign. In the case of smallholder Vietnamese flower producers, this implies adaptation of knowledge and skills currently not present. An important hindrance in promoting this knowledge and skills appears to be the weak vertical linkages between flower growers and public and private research and development organizations

Complex formation and enantioselectivity studies of triazole fungicide and organophosphorus pesticide enantiomers using capillary electrophoresis

Several cyclodextrin modified-micellar electrokinetic chromatography (CDMEKC) methods were developed for the successful triazole fungicides separation. In the first part, an efficient method was developed for the simultaneous enantioseparation of cyproconazole (4 stereoisomer), bromuconazole (4 stereoisomer) and diniconazole (2 stereisomer) enantiomers using CD-MEKC with a dual mixture of neutral cyclodextrins as chiral selector. The best simultaneous separation of cyproconazole, bromuconazole, and diniconazole enantiomers was achieved with a mixture of 27 mM HP-β-CD and 3 mM HP-γ-CD in 25 mM phosphate buffer (pH 3.0) containing 40 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 15% iso-propanol as organic modifier. Complete separation of 10 stereoisomer of triazole fungicides were obtained in a single run with good resolution (Rs 1.74“26.31) and high peak efficiency (N > 400 000). In the second part of the study, enantioseparation of hexaconazole, penconazole, myclobutanil, and triadimefon was investigated. Simultaneous enantioseparation of penconazole, myclobutanil, and triadimefon was achieved under acidic condition (pH 3.0) using 25 mM phosphate buffer, 50 mM SDS, and 30 mM HP-γ-CD, with Rs greater than 0.9 whereas, simultaneous enantioseparation of hexaconazole, penconazole, and myclobutanil was successfully achieved under neutral condition (pH 7.0) using 25 mM phosphate buffer, 40 mM SDS, and 40 mM HP-γ-CD, with Rs greater than1.6. In order to improve detection sensitivity, on-line preconcentration technique was investigated. It was found that sweeping technique as an on-line preconcentration technique improved the detection sensitivity of the enantioseparation of cyproconazole, bromuconazole, and diniconazole by 30 to 60-fold, with good repeatabilities in the migration time, peak area and peak height were obtained with RSDs in the range of 0.08“0.32%, 0.03“ 2.44%, and 2.13“8.44% respectively. Furthermore, sweeping technique improved the detection sensitivity of the enantioseparation of hexaconazole, penconazole and myclobutanil by 62- to 67-fold. Good repeatabilities in the migration time, peak area and peak height were obtained with RSDs in the range of 2.39“3.90%, 1.96€“6.15%, and 2.80“6.64% respectively. Finally, the formation constant of diniconazole enantiomers with HP-γ-CD under neutral and acidic condition was investigated using CD-MEKC

Avaliação de fungicidas no controle de Sphacelia sorghi (Claviceps africana) agente etiológico da "ergot" ou doença açucarada do sorgo.

A selecao de fungicidas para o controle da "ergot" foi realizada em campo de producao de sementes do hibrido de sorgo granifero BR 304, utilizando-se os seguintes tratamentos propiconazole (75gia/ha), propiconazole (125), propiconazole + difenoconazole (50 + 50), propiconazole + difenoconazole (75 + 75), tebuconazole (60) e testemunha sem fungicida. As pulverizacoes dos fungicidas foram realizadas com pulverizador costal manual, com o jato dirigido de forma a permitir a total cobertura das paniculas. Foram realizadas tres pulverizacoes, com intervalo de cinco dias, a partir da antese. Aos 5, 10 e 15 dias apos o termino das pulverizacoes foram realizadas avaliações da porcentagem de paniculas doentes e da severidade da doenca. Na ultima avaliacao, a severidade dessa doenca nos tratamentos fungicidas, variou de 1,2 a 4,0% enquanto que a testemunha apresentou 65,0 % de espiguetes doentes por paniculas. Desta forma, os fungicidas propiconazole, propiconazole + difenoconazole e tebuconazole foram eficientes no controle da "ergot" proporcionando aumento no peso das sementes do BR 304 e reducao na producao de pseudoesclerocios, sem afetar a germinacao e o vigor dessas sementes. Os fungicidas tebuconazole e propicona zole + difenoconazole foram os mais eficientes no controle das doencas foliares incitadas por Puccinia purpurea, Colletotrichum graminicola, Exserohilum turcicum e Cercospora fusimaculans

Meta-Analysis of Yield Response of Hybrid Field Corn to Foliar Fungicides in the U.S. Corn Belt

The use of foliar fungicides on field corn has increased greatly over the past 5 years in the United States in an attempt to increase yields, despite limited evidence that use of the fungicides is consistently profitable. To assess the value of using fungicides in grain corn production, random-effects meta-analyses were performed on results from foliar fungicide experiments conducted during 2002 to 2009 in 14 states across the United States to determine the mean yield response to the fungicides azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, and propiconazole + azoxystrobin. For all fungicides, the yield difference between treated and nontreated plots was highly variable among studies. All four fungicides resulted in a significant mean yield increase relative to the nontreated plots (P \u3c 0.05). Mean yield difference was highest for propiconazole + trifloxystrobin (390 kg/ha), followed by propiconazole + azoxystrobin (331 kg/ha) and pyraclostrobin (256 kg/ha), and lowest for azoxystrobin (230 kg/ha). Baseline yield (mean yield in the nontreated plots) had a significant effect on yield for propiconazole + azoxystrobin (P \u3c 0.05), whereas baseline foliar disease severity (mean severity in the nontreated plots) significantly affected the yield response to pyraclostrobin, propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, and propiconazole + azoxystrobin but not to azoxystrobin. Mean yield difference was generally higher in the lowest yield and higher disease severity categories than in the highest yield and lower disease categories. The probability of failing to recover the fungicide application cost (ploss) also was estimated for a range of grain corn prices and application costs. At the 10-year average corn grain price of $0.12/kg ($2.97/bushel) and application costs of $40 to 95/ha, ploss for disease severity \u3c5% was 0.55 to 0.98 for pyraclostrobin, 0.62 to 0.93 for propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, 0.58 to 0.89 for propiconazole + azoxystrobin, and 0.91 to 0.99 for azoxystrobin. When disease severity was \u3e5%, the corresponding probabilities were 0.36 to 95, 0.25 to 0.69, 0.25 to 0.64, and 0.37 to 0.98 for the four fungicides. In conclusion, the high ploss values found in most scenarios suggest that the use of these foliar fungicides is unlikely to be profitable when foliar disease severity is low and yield expectation is high