Organic plant protection treatments in greenhouse and open field by an electrical prototype

Two different versions of the patented device designed and built by Section of Mechanics andMechanization of DiGeSA have been used in distribution tests of natural enemies (Phytoseiuluspersimilis and Orius laevigatus) on greenhouse vegetable and flower crops (bell pepper andchrysanthemum) and on open field strawberry crops. For both the enemies, manual andmechanized releases were compared.The results of the preliminary laboratory tests prove that the dosage and distributionmechanism are suited to biological pest control strategies, both on greenhouse and on open field.These results encourage the diffusion of organic plant protection on vegetables in accordancewith the recent European Directive 2009/128/CE.With the version used on bell pepper the average time to turn the machine has been relativelyhigh because of scanty manoeuvrability. With the version used on strawberry crops, set on ahandle directly carried by the operator or mounted on a bar carried by a tractor, the deviceperformance is improved both in distribution uniformity and in manoeuvrability. Also theversion used on chrysanthemum, with three prototypes carried by a tool-bar applied on atrolley, has allowed to obtain a good uniformity distribution with rewarding work capacity.Thanks to the better results in terms of work capacity, costs would be contained when comparedwith those of manual distribution practiced so far.