Efficiency of Fungicides for Controlling Dirty Panicle Disease using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Abstract

The efficacy test of fungicides to control dirty panicle disease using UAV was done in dry season 2022 from March – June in Phra Nakorn Si Ayuttaya province. Field studies were conducted with 2x3 factorial in RCB using RD85 variety with two different fungicide products, effectively used to control dirty panicle (propiconazole+difenoconazole and cyproconazole+picoxystrobin) and three spray applications (UAV at the height of 1.0 meter and 2.0 meters with the rate of 3.5 L/rai, and the manual spray with the rate of 40 L/rai), including one control.  The results showed that the efficiency of both fungicides was not significantly different when sprayed with the UAV and manual spray. The percentage of disease incidence and of disease severity, including the total yield were not significantly different among the treatments; however, they showed significant differences between all of the treatments and the control. In conclusion, the use of UAV to spray fungicide on rice is as effective as a manual spray by a human. The results provide valuable information for further recommendations to farmers for pesticide application techniques and the establishment of the standard of spraying using UAVs.