Meta-analysis of scientific studies related to pesticide application techniques - air assistance and adjuvant addition

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of air-assisted boom sprayers and addition of adjuvants in the spray solution on control levels of pesticide sprays against weeds and pathogenic fungi by meta-analysis of scientific literature. To perform the meta-analysis, data were collected from the results presented in scientific papers. By these data, a variable was created, denominated as relative control that was used to quantify and test whether the use of air assistance or adjuvants affects the effectiveness of pesticide sprays. This variable was calculated as a difference between percentage of pesticide control in treatments with air assistance or adjuvants and treatments without these spray techniques. Data were analyzed statistically using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Results showed that the use of air assistance did not have any effect on the control levels of weeds and pathogenic fungi; whereas, the addition of adjuvants increased these levels by 6.45%.