| Abstrakt: |
The paper proposes a method for making comparisons between different spraying strategies. The method uses a cost/benefit approach, based on simulation modelling, and applies it in examining different recommendations for the control of the fungal diseaseSeptoria tritici.The model of disease development, which simulates the exponential growth of the pycnidia population on the uppermost four leaves of the wheat crop as a function of thermal time, is coupled with a model of the growth of the wheat crop in order to predict crop losses and to evaluate the cost/benefit ratios of different spray strategies for controlling the disease. Three spray recommendations were examined: two prophylactic treatments based on spraying routinely, either on four selected calendar dates or at three different growth stages, and a managed disease control, using one or two spray treatments in response to an imminent risk of disease attack. Only the strategy of managed disease control held possibilities of profitable disease control. |
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