| dc.description | The objectives of this work were to establish non-polluting pesticide application windows (VAP), that is the existence and size of appropriate daily periods to apply pesticides, for blueberry (Vaccinium sp.) orchards located in the Los Angeles area (37º28 S. lat., 72º23 W long.), Bio-Bio province, Chile; to compare them with the time demands of the annual spraying schedule, the effective work capacity (CET) of the air blast sprayers available in the market, and the area of the orchards. To achieve these objectives a 21-year daily meteorological database that included daily rainfall, wind speed, temperature and relative humidity was probabilistically processed. The results showed that there are enough appropriate days to carry out these applications, even at high probability levels (mean = 16.3 days month-1; range = 13.3-20.5 days month-1). The months with the larger number of appropriate days were March (20.5) and April (17.9); this time decreases greatly in January (13.3), December (13.4) and February (14.4) due to high temperatures and wind speed, and in May (15.0), June (15.6) and July (16.3) due to high rainfall. The comparison of the applications schedule with the magnitude of the VAP shows an adequate relationship between them. Given the magnitude of the VAP windows, the individual CET of the air blast sprayers (0.36-0.98 ha h-1) and the area of the majority of the blueberry orchards (< 10 ha), it can be concluded that the applications can be carried out in a timely way during the existing VAP. | |
