This topic is unforgivably little discussed in the press, although absolutely everyone faces this problem when using pesticides. Director "Augusta" On marketing and sales, Mikhail Evgenievich Danilov took the issue of education into his own hands and wrote a detailed review of the factors affecting the effectiveness of pesticides. In this article, we begin to introduce you to him.
Unfortunately, sometimes we have to deal with complaints about the effectiveness of our drugs. And let an employee of any other most respected multinational company producing pesticides and / or agrochemicals throw a stone at me, whose big name could protect him from claims. Claims, which are often completely unrelated to the quality of the particular product used.
Of course, it would be more pleasant for us not to enter into a discussion of this slippery topic, but simply to build protective armor in beautiful phrases in the description of drugs, as is customary for some companies that have become proficient in fending off multi-million dollar lawsuits by consumers (I must honestly say that they are often quite poorly substantiated) . Something to depict on the example of one of the largest manufacturers of pesticides. Quote from his official site:
“These recommendations are based on our current experience and comply with the regulations approved by the registration authorities. They do not exempt the user from his own assessment and taking into account a large number of factors that determine the use of <...> our preparation <...> Responsibility for <...> strict adherence to the requirements of technology and regulations is borne by agricultural producers <...> For our part, we exclude any or responsibility for the possible consequences of such use of the drug.
Various factors due to local and regional circumstances may affect the effectiveness of the drug. First of all, these are weather and soil-climatic conditions, varietal specificity, crop rotation, processing times, consumption rates, tank mixtures with other preparations and fertilizers (not specified in our recommendations), the presence of resistant organisms (pathogens, plants (weeds), insects and other target organisms), inappropriate and / or unregulated technique for use, and more. Under especially unfavorable conditions that were not taken into account by users, one cannot exclude a change in the effectiveness of the drug or even damage to cultivated plants, for the consequences of which we and our trading partners cannot be held responsible. ”
Everything written, in general, is stated correctly. I must say that the vast majority of claims that Augusta has to consider are not related to deviations in the quality of our products. The company is not in vain proud of its modern and equipped factories with the latest chemical science. We opened the third plant in the summer of 2019 and we are pleased to invite our partners there. The opening of the fourth (already on the production of active substances) was planned in March 2020 in the province of Hubei, which is notorious for all of us. For obvious reasons, the official opening had to be postponed.
EVALUATION OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES
And the claims related to the work of chemical means of protection are connected precisely with the fact that the condition highlighted in the above quote is qualitative "Assessment and accounting of a large number of factors that determine the use of our drug", from which "Do not free the user", this user was lame (like the spelling of Winnie the Pooh, which, "in general, is good, but lame").
It’s sometimes not possible to indicate exactly all factors in advertising materials. In studies and presentations, it is also not always possible to emphasize. After all, the specialist, as Kozma Prutkov used to say, “is like a flux: its fullness is one-sided”. The specialist’s eye is “blurred”; attention to things that seem obvious and understandable to him does not always focus. And for a layman, these “obvious” moments can be like absolute terra incognita.
For example, we wrote that the drug should be used within the temperature range of 15 - 25 ° C. Formally freed ourselves from responsibility if our product was used in a thirty-degree heat. Indeed, it is not good to carry out treatments in hot or cold weather. But sometimes it's not good, but it is necessary. And it should be explained to the client in which cases it is both bad and not necessary, and in which it is not good, but if it is very necessary, then it is still possible.
15 FACTORS
Let us, abstracting from what is stated in the leaflets and registration documents, go through external factors that can negate the effectiveness of the highest quality product. We trace the path of our drug from the plant to the target. And we’ll try to understand what factors can “lead him astray”.
These factors include:
- Transportation and storage conditions.
- The quality of the water used to prepare the working solution (pH, turbidity, composition of dissolved salts, temperature).
- Weather conditions both at the time of application and before and after application (temperature and humidity, wind, temperature inversion, precipitation before and after spraying).
- Used sprayers, types of spray nozzles and sprayer operating modes (rate of working solution consumption, droplet size, number of drops per unit area of the treated plant and the effect of this parameter on system / contact pesticides).
- Soil characteristics (presence or absence of plant debris and lumps on it, soil structure and moisture, soil absorbing complex properties).
- Agrotechnical methods of tillage and crops used during the growing season.
- The phase of development of weeds and their condition.
- The phase of development of culture, its condition and varietal features.
- Stage of development of the disease.
- Stage of development of the pest.
- The presence of resistant biotypes of weeds, pests and diseases, the alternation of pesticides with various mechanisms of action to reduce the risk of resistant species.
- Used tank mixtures of pesticides, agrochemicals (physico-chemical and biological compatibility).
- The effects of pesticides, crop rotation restrictions.
- Taking into account the specifics of registration of active substances (hereinafter - D.V.) in different countries and the norms of maximum permissible levels of residual content of D.V. in production.
- And something else that I forgot to mention - and therefore write, we will consider in subsequent materials.
FORMULATION AND PACKAGING
But we will start not with external factors, but with internal ones - with the formulation and packaging. In order to understand the quality of the formulation, it is worth visiting any of the Augustus factories, here the stories are meaningless, it is worth seeing at least once. In addition, it must be borne in mind that during the running of each batch, arbitration and representative samples are taken, which are stored at the factory and by which it is always possible to verify the compliance of the drug with the technical conditions.
As for packaging, in the August company at all factories from the beginning of 2020 marking of each individual storage unit (canister, bottle, package) with a unique date code has been introduced. It's about professional products. In preparations for summer residents (LPH), we use a different labeling. And now, using the August Checker mobile application, you can verify the authenticity of our products. The programs “August AgroMarker” and “August AgroSklad” will allow tracking the delivery of products and the return of empty cans already in the warehouses of our consumers.
There is a similar or similar marking on the products of a number of other manufacturers. August has taken the initiative to create a unified standard for labeling and software for the pesticide manufacturing and trafficking industry. We hope that it will be so.
So we will consider that along the entire chain of movement of our products we are talking about a high-quality and original product, and not about counterfeiting.
TRANSPORT AND STORAGE CONDITIONS
Problems may arise already on the way from the August warehouse to the consumer’s warehouse and when stored on it. They are connected, first of all, with temperature. All pesticides have certain storage temperatures. Some (for example, Tornadoes) are perfectly frozen in the vast expanses of our homeland, and then thawed without losing efficiency. Therefore, they can be transported and stored in a relatively wide temperature range. And there are drugs with which this focus is impossible: they should be stored only in conditions of plus temperatures.
Be sure to pay attention to this. All manufacturers know these features and give recommendations on the temperature regime of storage. In addition, such information is always indicated on the label. If the conditions of the season are such that you have any residues of warm storage products formed, be sure to move them to a heated warehouse for the winter. If due to oversight or other circumstances, the drug was stored in unsuitable conditions - check it before use with the help of the same manufacturer. He is able to not only evaluate the content of D.V., but can also determine the quality of the formulation by other indicators that affect the effectiveness of the pesticide.
WATER FACTOR
Let us recall a wonderful line from a song to the verses of Leonid Derbenev - “beer does not kill people, water destroys people.” Of course, it is unlikely that anyone would think of making a beer-based working solution, but preparing it on the basis of water, without evaluating its quality, is a more than common situation.
And if we say that to evaluate the effectiveness of pesticides in accordance with the field experiment methodology, a one-factor experiment is required, then we often forget that water quality is also a factor that can sometimes be limiting for a particular working solution.
What is water?
We are often asked questions regarding the preparation of tank mixtures. They ask what drugs are combined in biology, physico-chemical indicators, etc. But they forget what water itself is. It would seem that the question is simple: at a temperature from 0 to 100 ° C it is a transparent liquid, each molecule of which consists of two hydrogen atoms and one - oxygen, that is, N2A. But the water that we use in life, even pure drinking, at least technical, from the point of view of physical chemistry, is no longer water. In the best case, this is a ready-made tank solution of various salts and gases, and in the worst, a solution with a composition of various suspensions and emulsions. Because even in drinking water, according to the norms of the corresponding SanPiN, the total mineralization can reach up to 1 g / l. This means that 100 l of such water can contain up to 100 g of various salts. What can we say about non-potable water!
So to this “tank solution”, in 100 l of which contains from several tens to several hundred grams of various unaccounted compounds, we sometimes add grams of active substances in the form of our pesticide, lovingly formulated in conditions of medical purity. And then we can’t understand: what kind of drug is this - it works, it does not work. It seems that the party is one, and they did not steal it along the road and stored it correctly, but the effect from it is zero on this field, but on the other ten kilometers everything is fine. Although used simultaneously on the same crops and weeds, under the same weather conditions, sprayers, sprayers and modes. And the secret is simple - “it’s not beer that kills people, water kills people» (although beer is also ruining, of course, but this is beyond the scope of this article). The drug did not work because the content of specific impurities in our real water had a catastrophic effect on its effectiveness.
What properties of water should I pay attention to?
Dissolved salts
It is primarily about hardness salts - calcium and magnesium.
The chemical composition is more or less constant for artesian water, so if you determined it in a specialized laboratory, you can focus on this analysis for many years. And on the basis of it make a decision: to correct your water or not.
If you use water from surface sources or shallow wells, an analysis made even a few days ago may already be of historical value. And have nothing to do with the current composition of your water.
For the operational determination of water hardness, one can use such an indirect indicator as its electrical conductivity, which, in turn, is easy to measure using a conductivity meter. Stоit is this device in a portable version 50 - 100 dollars per piece, depending on the strength and "coolness» models. Such a device should be in every self-respecting agronomist or consultant. Conductometers are cheaper, but they tend to fall apart quickly. If the conductivity of your water does not exceed 500 microsiemens / cm, you can consider it conditionally suitable for spraying in terms of hardness.
If this value is higher (or you want to play it safe and increase the effectiveness of the products), then for the preparation of solutions of pesticides from d. based on water-soluble salts of organic acids or just such acids, water must be corrected. Here is a list of d.v. and some trade names for Augusta drugs» (This also applies to the products of its competitors).
- 2,4-D (Biolan Super)
- Aminopyralide
- Acifluorfen
- Bentazone (Corsair, Corsair Super)
- Glyphosate (Tornado, Tornado 500, Tornado 540)
- Gluphosinate
- Dikamba (Deimos, Biolan Super, Dublon Super)
- Imazamox, imazapir, imazethapyr (Paradox, Corsair Super, Grader, Fabian)
- Quinchlorac
- Quinmerac (Tranche Super)
- Kletodim (Graminion, Kvikstep)
- Clopyralide (Galion, Hacker)
- MCPA (Herbitox, Herbitox-L, Gorgon)
- Picloram (Galion, Gorgon, Ballerina Forte)
- Setoxidim
- Tepraloxydim
- Tralkoxide
Various water conditioners based on orthophosphoric, oxalic, citric acids are used to correct water. They are liquid, convenient and include signal dyes and buffering agents. At Augustus» such air conditioning is also there - this is Soylent. You can also use ammonium sulfate, but it is much more difficult to work with it, especially if there is no mortar unit.
It should be borne in mind that Soylent is strictly contraindicated for the fungicide Idol (tribasic copper sulfate, 345 g / l). This statement is true for most air conditioners with respect to copper salt fungicides.
Note that in addition to dissolved hardness salts, a significant amount of sodium salt may be present in water. In our practice, artesian waters with such a content of sodium chloride, sulfate and bicarbonate were found that it was easier to classify them as mineral. And although the content of calcium and magnesium in them was not so significant, salt water can have an electrical conductivity of several thousand microsiemens / cm. And with her, too, all sorts of troubles can arise. Since salty (and even not at all hard) water is often contraindicated in the form of concentrates of emulsions and suspensions. And water-soluble packets (a number of drugs have such a package) in such water become extremely insoluble. Therefore, it’s more accurate with salt water, since without even linking it with water, it can adversely affect the stability and effectiveness of emulsions and suspensions.
Acidity
Acidity, or pH, can be quickly determined either using indicator paper (with extremely low accuracy) or using a portable pH meter, which, unlike a portable conductivity meter, requires much more thorough care. Using this device in a camping environment is not entirely convenient.
For most pesticides, in terms of both their stability in the working solution and their effectiveness, it is a good idea to have a slightly acidic working solution. This is due, on the one hand, to the instability of the majority of d.v. to alkaline hydrolysis, and on the other hand, with the fact that acidic media can promote better penetration of D. through the cuticle of plants. Soilent and similar conditioners simultaneously bind hardness salts and acidify the working solution, so it can be used simultaneously to soften and acidify water. Moreover, natural water, with rare exceptions (bog waters, for example), has an alkaline reaction (primarily due to sodium, calcium and magnesium bicarbonates dissolved in it). And a pH meter that needs sensitive maintenance is not required.
In principle, if the conductivity of your water is low (all the same 500 μS / cm), and the pH has not much gone from a neutral value (not much higher than 7), then for most drugs, acidification of water is not an urgent need, although, of course, not it will hurt. The exception here is fungicides based on copper salts and, to some extent, preparations based on sulfonylureas, which are susceptible to acid rather than alkaline hydrolysis, and therefore less stable in acidic solutions than in alkaline.
But, nevertheless, there are a number of d. Century, for which acidification of the working solution to a pH of 5 - 6 is highly desirable. Sometimes, due to weather conditions, it is necessary to leave the working solution in the sprayer or in the solution unit. Some manufacturers (insuring against possible claims) write in the recommendations that the use of the working solution should occur immediately after its preparation. But, as Goethe used to say: “the theory is dry, my friend, and the tree of life is magnificently green»... Therefore, not for theorists, but for practitioners, taking into account the pomp of real life, we give a list of D.V. for which water with an alkaline reaction (pH> 7) is highly undesirable. Especially in the situation described above, when problems arise with the immediate use of the working solution after preparation. And tank mixtures with alkaline agents (for example, such as sodium or potassium humates, the pH of which can reach 9-10) for these substances. are also contraindicated.
Here is a list of dv used in the preparations of Augusta»susceptible to alkaline hydrolysis, for which a working solution based on water with an alkaline pH requires acidification (use the same Soylent):
acidification required: Desmedifam (Biceps 22, Biceps Garant), fenmedifam (Biceps 22, Biceps Garant), as well as FOPs - fenoxaprop-P-ethyl (Eraser 100, Eraser Top, Eraser-Extra), Clodinafop-propargil (Eraser Top), Halox R-methyl (Quickstep), chizalofop-P-ethyl (Miura) and malathion (Aliot);
acidification is desirable: dimethoate (Cirocco); pyrethroids - alpha-cypermethrin (Borey Neo), lambda-cygalothrin (Break, Borey), cypermethrin (Shar Pei), esfenvalerate (Senpai), as well as chlorpyrifos (Tyra) and cymoxanil (Ordan).
It must be borne in mind that the preparative form is somewhat wider than the D.V., and therefore for specific drugs there may be some special recommendations.
The question that often arises: what to do with tank mixtures of drugs of the betanal group and triflusulfuron methyl? In this case, we select the side of the island that is most susceptible to decomposition. Sulfonylureas will tolerate an acid reaction much more easily than desmedifam and phenmedifam - alkaline hydrolysis. Acidifying - and not tormented by doubts.
Turbidity
Water can be turbid due to various finely divided suspensions, organic and inorganic. Organic and clay impurities have a very negative effect on organic matter, which have a large organic carbon / water partition coefficient (English abbreviation KOC). The larger this coefficient, the more the substance is susceptible to absorption. In muddy water, this is d. from active becomes passive.
When the CBS value is measured in tens of thousands (glyphosate) or millions (diquat) units, it is a signal to think hard about the turbidity of your water. True, measuring it with instruments and determining its nature is a task for too inquisitive minds, requiring complex instrumentation. Therefore, the Americans in their time invented a technique that cost them only 25 cents, which at today's exchange rate is only about 20 rubles. I have improved this technique, and in the Russian open spaces it will cost you exactly 10 times cheaper - only 2 rubles. Take a two-ruble coin, throw it into a full bucket of water (10-12 liters), and if you see it at the bottom, then such water is considered conditionally suitable in terms of turbidity. And if you don't even see a five-ruble coin (although this happens quite rarely), your money cried. Look for another source of water to prepare the working solution.
Diquat and glyphosate are extremely sensitive to muddy water, they also do not like oxyfluorfen and pendimethalin. Well, as for the other dvs, I recommend a look at the site rupeest.ru and look at the table “Environmental Behavior» The specific value of CBS for the ingredient you are interested in. If opposite the value it says “does not move», this means - cloudy water is strictly contraindicated for your preparation.
Temperature
Most often problems arise with very cold water - not all formulations tolerate it. This leads to difficulties in the preparation of working solutions in mortar units (especially where urea or saltpeter is added to this water, after which the temperature drops below zero), in sprayers and pickling machines. This applies not only to D. century, but also to other components of the formulation. Pay attention to it! Take specific preparations and make a test solution with water from the refrigerator.
To be continued
Photo by O. Seifutdinova, Shutterstock, from the Amazon
Material Pole Augusta newspaper No. 5, 2020