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UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA
EFFECTS OF LEAF SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS AND SPRAY DROPLETS ON EFFECTIVENESS OF SELECTED GLYPHOSATE
FORMULATIONS
NORHAYATI BINTI NGAH FP 2010 4
i
EFFECTS OF LEAF SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS AND SPRAY DROPLETS
ON EFFECTIVENESS OF SELECTED GLYPHOSATE FORMULATIONS
By
NORHAYATI BINTI NGAH
Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, in
Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science
February 2010
ii
Dedicated to:
My belated mother
(Sulong binti Mohd Noor)
For her true love, support and inspiration
iii
Abstract of thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia in fulfilment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of Science
EFFECTS OF LEAF SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS AND SPRAY DROPLETS
ON EFFECTIVENESS OF SELECTED GLYPHOSATE FORMULATIONS
By
NORHAYATI NGAH
February 2010
Chairman : Dzolkhifli Omar, PhD.
Faculty : Agriculture
Laboratory and glasshouse studies were conducted to examine the effect of leaf surfaces
and spray droplets on the effectiveness of glyphosate on some selected plants. The broad
leaves plants selected were Diodia ocimifolia, Borreria latifolia, Clidemia hirta, Cleome
rutidosperma, Mikania micrantha and Asystasia gangetica, while the narrow leaves
consisted of Eleusine indica, Imperata cylindrica, Cyperus kylingia, Axonopus
compressus, Pennisetum polistachyon and Paspalum conjugatum. The deposition of
pesticide depends on the morphology of leaf surface, thus the leaf surface roughness and
epicuticular wax were evaluated. The plants were categorized accordingly to the different
type of roughness based on the estimation of three roughness parameters Ra (arithmetic
average height parameter), Rq (root-mean-square roughness parameter corresponding to
Ra), and Rz (average of high peaks and low valleys over the evaluation length). The leaf
was examined by using scanning electron microscopy for the surface roughness while the
epicuticular wax content of the leaf was extracted by using chloroform. The amount of
iv
wax extracted from the plants varied between species. For broad leaves plant, M.
micrantha (44.22µgcm-2
) contained the highest quantity of wax. Clidemia hirta
(24.03µgcm-2
) and A. gangetica (23.03µgcm-2)
were grouped in the plant with medium
quantity of wax while C. rutidosperma (16.52µgcm-2
), B. latifolia (14.19µgcm-2
) and D.
ocimifolia (10.75µgcm-2
) were grouped in plant with low quantity of cuticular wax
weight. For narrow leaves plant, E. indica (44.23µgcm-2
) and I. cylindrica (49.88µgcm-2
)
have the highest quantity of wax. Pennisetum polystachion (32.16µgcm-2
) and C.
kylingia (22.85µgcm-2
) were categorized under the plant with medium quantity of wax
whereas P. conjugatum (19.59µgcm-2
) and A. compressus (16.78µgcm-2
) were
categorized with low quantity of wax. The wax on the abaxial and adaxial leaf surface of
the broad leaves plants was found to be significantly different. In contrast, the amount of
wax on the abaxial and adaxial leaf surface of the narrow leaves plants was more or less
similar. For the leaf surface roughness of the broad leaves species, B. latifolia were
categorized as the roughest followed by C. hirta, D. ocimifolia, A. gangetica, and C.
rutidosperma. Mikania micrantha had the smoothest leaf surface among the broad leaves
species. On the other hand, the narrow leaves of P. polistachyon were identified as the
roughest followed by I. cylindrica and P. conjugatum while E. indica, A. compressus and
C. kylingia were categorized in the smoothest surface.
The effect of leaf surface roughness and epicuticular wax on the spread area of spray
droplets of glyphosate was studied by measuring the spread area of 1μL, 2μL and 3μL of
micro-emulsion formulation (ME4), soluble solution formulation (AS2), Roundup® and
water on the adaxial leaf surfaces of each of the plant species. The spread area of all
formulations and volume of droplets varied between species. The spread area showed
v
that the amount of wax on leaf surface played important role as compared to the leaf
surface roughness. Nevertheless, the leaf surface roughness to some extends influence
for the spread droplets. ME4 gave twice spread diameter area of the droplet than AS2
and Roundup®. The ratio of spread droplet showed the smaller the droplet volume, the
better the spread was obtained. The ratio of spread area of 1μL, 2μL and 3μL droplet of
all formulations was estimated at about 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
The efficacy of the formulations was then evaluated in the glasshouse by spraying the
plants using 3 different nozzles to represent the small (250 microns), medium (350
microns) and coarse (450 microns) droplets. The spray deposition was recorded 1 hour
after the application. The chlorophyll degradation was determined on the first, third,
seventh and fourteenth day and mortality of weeds was recorded third, seventh, tenth and
fourteenth day after spraying. Ten days after spraying, the base of plant was cut and the
fresh weights of each species were recorded. Results of all those parameters varied
among the species. In general, smaller droplet size, will give better deposition. The
droplet size and the leaf surface characteristic were confirmed affecting the amount of
spray deposition. The solution sprayed with smaller droplets size was more effective than
the coarse droplet size in killing the plants for most of plant species. However, the coarse
droplet spray was found to be better in controlling the plants with hairy surface as
compared to fine droplet. The micro emulsion formulation (ME4) was found to give
better efficacy in killing the plants than the water soluble formulation (AS2) and
Roundup®.
vi
Abstrak tesis ini dikemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Putra Malaysia sebagai
memenuhi keperluan untuk Ijazah Master Sains
KESAN CIRI PERMUKAAN DAUN DAN TITIK SEMBURAN KE ATAS
KEBERKESANAN FORMULASI GLYPHOSATE TERPILIH
Oleh
NORHAYATI NGAH
Februari 2010
Pengerusi : Dzolkhifli Omar, PhD.
Fakulti : Pertanian
Kajian makmal dan rumah kaca telah dilaksanakan bertujuan untuk mengkaji kesan
permukaan daun dan titik semburan ke atas keberkesanan glifosat terhadap beberapa
tumbuhan terpilih. Tumbuhan daun lebar yang dipilih adalah Diodia ocimifolia, Borreria
latifolia, Clidemia hirta, Cleome rutidosperma, Mikania micrantha dan Asystasia
gangetica, manakala tumbuhan daun tirus merangkumi Eleusine indica, Imperata
cylindrica, Cyperus kylingia, Axonopus compressus, Pennisetum polistachyon dan
Paspalum conjugatum. Lantaran mendapan racun perosak turut bergantung kepada
morfologi permukaan daun, maka kekasaran permukaan daun dan lilin epicutikular juga
dinilai. Tumbuhan dikategorikan berdasarkan kepada anggaran tiga parameter kekasaran
iaitu Ra (parameter purata ketinggian aritmetik), Rq (punca kuasa dua nilai parameter
kekasaran Ra), dan Rz (purata tinggi dan rendah puncak lembah ke atas nilai panjang).
Daun diperiksa dengan menggunakan mikroskop elektron untuk menilai kekasaran
permukaan sementara lilin epicuticular daun diekstrak dengan menggunakan kloroform.
vii
Kandungan lilin yang diekstrak daripada daun tumbuhan adalah bervariasi antara spesies.
Untuk tumbuhan daun lebar, M. micrantha (44.22 µgcm-2
) dikenalpasti sebagai
tumbuhan yang mengandungi jumlah lilin tertinggi. Clidemia Hirta (24.03 µgcm-2
) dan
A. gangetica (23.03 µgcm-2
) dikategorikan sebagai tumbuhan dengan kuantiti lilin yang
sederhana, sementara C. rutidosperma (16.52 µgcm-2
), B. latifolia (14.19 µgcm-2
) dan D.
ocimifolia (10.75 µgcm-2
) dikategorikan sebagai tumbuhan dengan kuantiti lilin
epikuticular yang rendah. Untuk tumbuhan daun tirus, E. indica (44.23 µgcm-2
) dan I.
cylindrica (49.88 µgcm-2
) diakui mempunyai jumlah lilin terbanyak. Pennisetum
polystachion (32.16 µgcm-2
) dan C. kylingia (22.85 µgcm-2
) dikategorikan sebagai
tumbuhan yang mempunyai jumlah lilin sederhana manakala P. conjugatum (19.59
µgcm-2
) dan A. compressus (16.78 µgcm-2
) berada dalam kategori tumbuhan yang
mempunyai kuantiti lilin yang rendah. Jumlah lilin pada permukaan atas dan bawah daun
bagi tumbuhan berdaun lebar mempunyai perbezaan yang nyata. Sebaliknya, jumlah lilin
pada permukaan atas dan bawah bagi tumbuhan berdaun tirus adalah lebih kurang sama.
Untuk nilai kekasaran permukaan daun daripada tumbuhan berdaun lebar, B. latifolia
dikategorikan sebagai paling kasar diikuti oleh C. hirta, D. ocimifolia, A. gangetica, dan
C. rutidosperma. M. micrantha mempunyai permukaan daun yang paling halus di antara
spesies daun lebar. Bagi tumbuhan berdaun tirus P. polistachyon telah dikenalpasti
sebagai paling kasar diikuti oleh I. cylindrica, dan P. conjugatum sementara E. indica, A.
compressus dan C. kylingia dikategorikan sebagai mempunyai permukaan yang halus.
Kesan daripada kekasaran permukaan daun dan jumlah lilin epicuticular ke atas
penyebaran titisan semburan glifosat telah dikaji dengan mengukur luas penyebaran 1μL,
2μL dan 3μL formulasi larutan mikro (ME4), formulasi solusi larut (AS2), Roundup ®
viii
dan air pada permukaan atas daun bagi semua spesis tumbuhan. Keluasan kawasan
penyebaran oleh semua jenis formulasi dan saiz titisan adalah bervariasi di antara semua
spesis. Keluasan penyebaran menunjukkan bahawa jumlah lilin pada permukaan daun
memainkan peranan penting berbanding dengan kekasaran permukaan daun. Walau
bagaimana pun, dalam keadaan tertentu kekasaran permukaan daun boleh bertindak
sebagai faktor penentu untuk penyebaran titisan. ME4 memberikan nilai dua kali ganda
diameter luas titisan yang tersebar berbanding AS2 dan Roundup®. Nisbah penyebaran
titisan menunjukkan bahawa semakin kecil saiz titisan, semakin baik penyebaran yang
diperolehi. Nisbah luas penyebaran bagi isipadu 1μL, 2μL dan 3μL bagi semua formulasi
adalah dianggarkan sekitar 2:3:4.
Keberkesanan formulasi kemudiannya dinilai dalam rumah kaca dengan menyembur
tumbuhan menggunakan 3 jenis nozel yang berbeza untuk mewakili saiz titik semburan
sederhana (250 mikron), kasar (350 mikron) dan sangat kasar (450 mikron). Mendapan
penyemburan telah direkodkan satu jam selepas aplikasi. Kandungan klorofil daun
ditentu ukur pada hari pertama, ketiga, ketujuh dan keempat belas manakala tahap
kematian direkod pada hari ketiga, ketujuh, kesepuluh dan empat belas hari selepas
semburan. 10 hari selepas semburan, pangkal tumbuhan dipotong dan berat basah dan
berat kering tumbuhan direkod. Keputusan daripada semua parameter adalah bervariasi
di antara spesies. Secara umumnya, semakin kecil isipadu titisan, semakin tinggi nilai
endapan racun. Isipadu titisan dan ciri permukaan daun disahkan mempengaruhi jumlah
endapan semburan. Solusi semburan yang disembur dengan saiz titisan yang lebih kecil
adalah lebih berkesan berbanding saiz titisan yang besar untuk membunuh sebahagian
besar rumpai. Namun, isipadu titisan yang kasar didapati adalah lebih berkesan untuk
ix
mengawal tumbuhan yang mempunyai permukaan berbulu berbanding dengan isipadu
titisan halus. Formulasi emulsi mikro (ME4) didapati paling berkesan untuk mengawal
tumbuhan berbanding perumusan larut (AS2) dan Roundup ®.
x
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful…
I am grateful to the Head and members of Department of Plant Protection, Dean and
entire members of the Faculty of Agriculture and School of Graduate Studies for their
assistance during my graduate study at Universiti Putra Malaysia. I would like to express
special thank to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Dzolkhifli Omar as well as my co-
supervisor, Assoc. Professor Dr. Abdul Shukor Juraimi for their technical support,
comments, suggestions, guidance, and patience during supervising my research. In
particular, I owe my gratitude to both of them for sharing me a lot of knowledge. My
sincere gratitude is also due to all Toxicology and Plant Physiology Laboratory staffs for
helping me in this research. I wish to express my thanks to all of my friends who were
very helpful and for their tireless support to complete this thesis. I also thank my beloved
family, whose true love, support and inspiration made this work possible.
xi
I certify that an Examination Committee met on 23rd
March 2010 to conduct the final
examination of Norhayati Ngah on his Master of Science thesis entitled “Effects of Leaf
Surface Characteristics and Spray Droplets on Effectiveness of Selected Glyphosate
Formulations” in accordance with Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Act
1980 and Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Regulations 1981. The
committee recommends that the candidate be awarded the relevant degree. Members of
Examination Committee are as follows:
Kamaruzaman Sijam, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Faculty of Agriculture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
(Chairman)
Rosli Mohamad, Ph.D.
Professor
Faculty of Agriculture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
(Member)
Rita Muhamad, Ph.D.
Professor
Faculty of Agriculture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
(Member)
Isa Ipor, Ph.D.
Professor
Faculty of Resource Science & Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
(Member)
__________________________
Bujang Kim Huat, Ph.D.
Professor/ Deputy Dean
(Thesis and Academic Record)
School of Graduate Studies
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Date:
xii
This thesis was submitted to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia and has been
accepted as fulfillment of the degree of Master of Science. The members of the
Supervisory Committee were as follows:
Dzolkhifli Omar, Ph.D.
Professor
Faculty of Agriculture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
(Chairman)
Abdul Shukor Juraimi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Faculty of Agriculture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
(Member)
________________________________
Hasanah Mohd Ghazali, PhD
Professor and Dean
School of Graduate Studies
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Date: 10 Jun 2010
xiii
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the thesis is based on my original work except for quotations and
citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been
previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree at Universiti Putra Malaysia or
other institutions.
____________________________
NORHAYATI BINTI NGAH
Date:
xiv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
DEDICATION ii
ABSTRACT iii
ABSTRAK vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x
APPROVAL xi
DECLARATION xii
LIST OF TABLE xviii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION xxi
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Weed 4
2.2 Chemical control 5
2.3 Entry and movement of herbicides in plants 6
2.4 Herbicide formulation 8
2.5 Herbicide application technique 10
2.6 Spray droplet size 12
2.7 Spray droplet densities 14
2.8 Spray droplet flight, deposition and retention on the target 14
2.9 Leaf surface characteristics 16
2.9.1 The leaf wax 16
2.9.2 The leaf surface roughness 19
xv
3 LEAF WAX AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS
3.1 Introduction 21
3.2 Materials and methods
3.2.1 Plant and Materials 21
3.2.2 Leaf wax extraction 23
3.2.3 Leaf area and leaf weight measurements 24
3.2.4 Leaf surface roughness 24
3.2.5 Quantification and qualification of 25
leaf surface roughness.
3.2.4 Experimental design and data analysis 26
3.3 Results and discussion
3.3.1 Mass of wax for both surface of leaf 27
3.3.2 Mass of wax for different surface of leaf 28
3.3.3 Quantification and qualification of
leaf surface roughness 30
3.4 Conclusion 34
4 EFFECT OF ROUGHNESS AND WAX ON LEAF SURFACE TO
DROPLET SPREAD OF GLYPHOSATE FORMULATIONS
4.1 Introduction 36
4.2 Materials and methods
4.2.1 Plant and Materials 37
4.2.2 Preparation of treatment solution 37
4.2.3 Measurement of spread area 38
4.2.4 Data analysis 39
4.3 Results and discussion
4.3.1 Droplet spread of glyphosate formulations 39
4.4 Conclusion 46
xvi
5 EFFECT OF ROUGHNESS AND WAX ON LEAF, SPRAY DROPLET
SIZES AND FORMULATION ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
GLYPHOSATE
5.1 Introduction 47
5.2 Materials and Methods
5.2.1 Plant and Materials 48
5.2.2 Measuring the spray deposition 49
5.2.3 Visual assessment 50
5.2.4 Fresh weight 51
5.2.5 Chlorophyll degradation 52
5.3 Data analysis 53
5.4 Results and Discussion
5.4.1 Spray deposition 53
5.4.2 Spray effectiveness 57
5.4.3 Fresh weight reduction 66
5.4.4 Chlorophyll degradation 68
5.5 Conclusion 77
CONCLUSIONS 78
REFERENCES 80
APPENDICES 90
BIODATA OF THE STUDENT 94
xvii
LIST OF TABLE
Table Page
3.1 Means comparison of epicuticular wax of broad leaves species 27
3.2 Means comparison of epicuticular wax of narrow leaves species 28
3.3 Means comparison of wax for abaxial and adaxial
surface on the selected plants species 29
3.4 The value of surface roughness 32
3.5 Distribution, number and length of hairs and trichome per mm² on upper surface of mature leaves for broad leaves plant 32
3.6 Size of epidermal cell on mature leaves for broad leaves plant 33
3.7 The value of surface roughness 34
3.8 Distribution, number and length of hairs and trichome per mm² on upper surface of mature leaves for narrow leaves plant 34
3.9 Size of epidermal cell on mature leaves for narrow leaves plant 35
4.1 Comparison of various formulation of glyphosate 38
4.2 Area of spread for all formulations using different droplet
volumes on different species of broad leaves plant 43
4.3 Area of spread for all formulations using different droplet
volumes on different species of narrow leaves plant 43
5.1 Spray treatments for evaluation on effect of formulation and
spray droplet sizes on the effectiveness of glyphosate 49
5.2 Visual weed control rating based on 0-100% 51
5.3 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
spray deposition for broad leaves species 56
5.4 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
spray deposition for narrow leaves species 56
5.5 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 3rd
DAT 61
xviii
5.6 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 7th
DAT 61
5.7 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 10th
DAT 62
5.8 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 14th
DAT 62
5.9 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 3rd
DAT 65
5.10 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 7th
DAT 65
5.11 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 10th
DAT 66
5.12 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
mortality on 14th
DAT 66
5.13 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on fresh
weight reduction for broad leaves species 68
5.14 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on fresh
weight reduction for narrow leaves species 68
5.16 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for broad leaves species at 3rd
DAT 72
5.17 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for broad leaves species at 7th
DAT 72
5.18 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for broad leavesspecies at 10th
DAT leaf 73
5.19 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for broad leaves species at 14th
DAT 73
5.20 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for narrow leaves species at 3rd
DAT 76
5.21 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for narrow leaves species at 7th
DAT 76
xix
5.22 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for narrow leaves species at 10th
DAT 77
5.23 Effect of glyphosate formulations and droplet sizes on
chlorophyll content for narrow leaves species at 14th
DAT 77
xx
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
P. conjugatum Paspalum conjugatum
P. polistachyon Pennisetum polistachyon
I. cylindrica Imperata cylindrica
A. compressus Axonopus compressus
C. kylingia Cyperus kylingia
E. indica Eleusine indica
D. ocimifolia Diodia ocimifolia
C. hirta Clidemia hirta
A. gangetica Asystasia gangetica
C. rutidosperma Cleome rutidosperma
M. micrantha Mikania micrantha
B. latifolia Borreria latifolia
ANOVA Analysis of variance
CHCl3 Trichloromethane
CRD Complete Randomized Design
DAT Day after treatment
DSMA Disodiun methanearsonate
EPTC Ethyl di-n-prophylthiolcarbamate
HSD Tukey’s Studentized Range
MCPA Metaxon chloro phenyl acid
NPK Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potash
RCBD Randomized Complete Block Design
xxi
S.E Standart Error
SAS Statistical Analysis System
SEM Scanning electron microscope
UPM Universiti Putra Malaysia
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Weeds reduce the yield of crop by suppressing plant growth through competition for
light, soil minerals, moisture and water. It was also lowering the quality of the harvest
through contamination with foreign matter. The damage is irreversible. In Malaysia,
herbicides usage was 67.49 percent of the total pesticide used equivalent to RM 218
million in 2004 (Omar, 2008). Farmers usually use a variety of methods to control the
weeds. The choice of methods is closely controlled by economics. The availability of
farm labor at the critical times needed for weeding crops is often limited, and herbicide
can often give more efficient weed control at comparable or even lower cost.
The efficiency of an herbicide application, while clearly depending on the chemical itself
as well as the formulation is also dependent upon being delivered to the target site
(Kirkwood, 1987). The application technique is the only means of improving targeting of
herbicide sprays and yet current understanding is relatively crude (Matthews, 2000).
Therefore, more research is needed to understand how spray and leaf structures interact to
enable more efficient placing of sprays at the target sites.
The activity of foliage applied herbicide must ultimately depend on the concentration of
active ingredient that reaches the sites of action together with the effect of the herbicide
on the biochemical mechanisms that take place at these sites. The micro structure of leaf
2
surfaces are among the factors that influence droplet retention. The amount of herbicide
deposited on a crop or weed canopy during the spray application is influenced by plant
morphological, spraying technique, herbicide formulation and environmental factors. The
plant factors included the habit of growth, size, shape, and orientation of the leaves, as
well as the characteristics of surface such as corrugation, roughness, and the presence of
hairs or trichomes and the physiochemical properties of the epicuticular waxes.
The epicuticular waxes are considered to be the first and main barrier to the penetration
of agriculturally important chemicals across the cuticle to their target site. The efficiency
of cuticle retention and penetration, tissue absorption and, in the case of systemic
compounds, herbicide metabolism or immobilization en route may reduce the amount
reaching the active sites. The surface topography also influences the behavior of
herbicide deposit on leaf surface. The surface roughness is an important factor to
determine the spray retention; it is responsible for droplet bounce by presenting surface
inclined from the horizontal, and governs the magnitude of contact angle hyteresis.
Roughness can cause droplets to coalesce to form larger deposits.
Spray deposition is generally proportional to the rate of application with losses occurring
due to runoff, volatility or spray misdirection; the height of the boom above the canopy
and the location of the leaves in the canopy may also influence surface deposits. Spray
volume and droplet size are also of considerable importance, presumably due to
interaction involving such factors as retention, spreading, wetting and penetration to the
surface of the foliage. In general, herbicidal efficiency increased with reduction in droplet
3
size. The optimal effect of herbicide spraying may be achieved when maximum contact
area is obtained by combination of small droplets and high volume. However, large
droplets maybe preferable in situations in which fine hairs are present on the plant surface
or where there is a need to exploit differential retention between a waxy crop and less
waxy weeds or between broad leaved plants and narrow leaved plant species.
Droplet size is undoubtedly a key issue; the smallest droplets being the most prone to
drift yet often being optimal for enhanced coverage, whereas larger droplets convey
excessive amounts of pesticide and may rebound from leaf surfaces. This results in poor
distribution, unless large volumes are applied to completely wet the surfaces which can
cause wastages. Further knowledge of the surface retention of droplets of different sizes
and their distribution, as well as information on the availability and persistence of
deposits on surfaces should provide a better specification for the type of nozzle required,
whether the spray liquid can be improved by including an appropriate adjuvant and
whether any additional delivery system such as air assistance should be used.
This research was carried out to study the effect of roughness and wax on leaf surfaces
and spray droplet sizes on the effectiveness of glyphosate. The study consisted of three
parts. Part one was the study on the leaf wax and surface roughness. The second part was
to study the effect of roughness and wax on leaf surface on spread droplet of glyphosate
formulations. Lastly, the study was conducted to evaluate the effect of roughness and
wax on leaf, spray droplet sizes and formulation on the effectiveness of glyphosate.