MODERN TRENDS IN APPLYING PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS IN ORCHARDS

Fruit tree culture is of particular importance as food source, from socio-economic and environmental point of view. The fruits of fruit-bearing trees and shrubs are one of the healthiest foods that are indispensable in making an optimal food ration for the human body. Through the cultivation of trees, the best use is made of hilly areas, inclined terrains in the lowland area, as well as sandy soils in Oltenia, North-Western Transylvania and Southern Moldavia. Fruit growing is the livelihood of a significant part of Romania’s population. Orchards balance the composition of the atmosphere by CO2 consumption and oxygen release, attenuate thermal extremes, increase air relative humidity, reduce wind speed. Moreover, orchards have an important anti-erosion role. As a result, the fruit growing development programs in our Country include priority measures and actions, among which the promotion of organic tree cultivation technologies. Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union, establishes a framework to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides by reducing the effects of pesticide use on human health and the environment and promoting the use of integrated pest management (IPM Integrated Pest Management) and of alternative approaches or techniques such as non-chemical alternatives to pesticides, all of which are part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Currently, low and ultra-low consumption technologies are being promoted when applying phytosanitary treatments. A way to reduce the consumption of a plant protection products is the punctual application of spraying, a component of the “precision agriculture” system. In the case of the punctual spraying application system, the command of sprayers opening or stopping is controlled, depending on the plant mass within the range of the machine. The purpose of the paper is to study technological solutions for punctual application of spraying in fruit plantations. Cuvinte cheie: plantaţii pomicole, tratamente fitosanitare, agricultură de precizie, normă variabilă