REDUCED PESTICIDE PROGRAM FOR PEACH BASED ON TREE PHENOLOGY

A variable reduced-rate pesticide programme was compared with a full-r ate pesticide programme for the control of insects and diseases on pea ch during a 2-year study. Rates of insecticides and fungicides in the reduced programme were 25, 50 and 100% of full recommended rates on an a.i. ha-1 basis at 0-30, 31-90 and >90 days after full bloom, respect ively. The reduced programme provided similar control of green peach a phid, oriental fruit moth, catfacing insects, peach scab and brown rot to that of the full-rate programme, with 51% less pesticide. The redu ced programme is proposed as a means to make spray deposit on the targ et more uniform throughout the season, while maintaining effective ins ect and disease control with less pesticide.