Grapevine fungicides
The objective of this Campo Demo is to show and compare every fungicidal strategy against Plasmopara viticola (downy mildew).
It is a particular fungus that develops in hot and humid environments. Symptoms include irregular yellow spots on the upper surface of the leaves (that can brown because of necrosis) and white and dusty spots on the bottom surface. On the bunches, the fruit is covered by a white/grey dust and changes color from purple to a reddish-brown.
We have tried several strategies and products, both biological and synthetic, to evaluate their effectiveness in controlling this pathogen.
Grapevine herbicides
A problem that is present in several vineyard areas is the spread of some types of infesting weeds, such as Conyza canadensis, which have developed a certain resistance to the most widely used herbicide in viticulture: glyphosate.
The objective of this Campo Demo is to show alternative products and strategies for controlling these infesting weeds in the vineyards.
Cereal variety
The “variety” section dedicated to field trials is a fundamental support for a scrupulous choice of barley, triticale, soft and durum wheat, and blends.
Different varieties bring different performances; therefore, it is important and essential that the information obtained by yield tests is able to give results useful for choosing the varieties that adapt best to the sowing areas.
Campo Demo presents itself as the connection between farmers and seed production companies; to the latter this initiative offers several possibilities for experimentation:
An exhibition space called Showcase Field to welcome interested farmers, technicians and retailers, describing as well as possible the genetic potential of the presented materials.
An area dedicated to parcel plot trials for comparing varieties related to the cultivation of soft wheat, barley and tritical for the production of wheat.
A space for forage crops in pure stands, in a mixed pasture system or the production of biogas/biomethane.
Cereal fungicides
The fungicides Campo Demo aims at evaluating innovative strategies to contain Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), one of the main pathogens for wheat.
Specifically, the volume of water used and different types of nozzles will be evaluated.
Cereal herbicides
Evaluation of different products and strategies proposed by the main agrochemical companies for controlling monocotyledons and dicotyledons on winter wheat.
Cereal biostimulants
The focus of this year’s edition of CAMPO DEMO cereals will be the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). NUE is often defined as the conversion rate of the input of N (for example, fertilizing N applied and/or N of the soil) in the total biomass of the plant or the specific biomass of the plant organ (for example, the wheat yield).
Wheat will be cultivated at three different levels of nitrogen: 100% (as the industry practice), 25% and 50% less. In conditions with reduced nitrogen, several biostimulants will then be applied to evaluate their each specific contribution to the growth of the crop in terms of chlorophyll content, yield and qualitative traits (proteins, starch, gluten, sedimentation value through the Zeleny test, hectoliter weight and hardness).
Strawberry fungicides
One of the main pathogens for strawberries is Botrytis cinerea (grey mould). The goal of this Campo Demo is to show and compare every fungicidal strategy against this pathogen.
Botrytis cinerea, the causative agent of grey mould in strawberries, is a particular fungus that develops in a humid environment. The symptoms consist of grey-brown lesions and white powdery spots on the fruits.
We have tested different strategies with biological products to test their effectiveness in the management of this pathogen.
Table grape fungicides
The project for spreading techniques to optimize and improve the management of the main fungal diseases in table grapes, such as downy mildew, powdery mildew, and grey mould, continues. As for the previous editions, the need to add the grey mould as a focus for 2022 has emerged from the requests of the producers of quality table grapes. Therefore, the location for the 2022 edition of the Table grape fungicides Campo Demo will be a vineyard in the Palagiano countryside, of the “Italia” variety, which is suited for a longer commercialization window thanks to techniques that extend the time the bunches can stay on the plant and their subsequent cold storage in specialized structures.
Table grape biostimulants
The claim that will be evaluated is the increase in shelf-life.
The tests will be conducted both in the field and in cold storage.
In the field, the degree Brix, the bunch weight and the hardness will be evaluated. In addition, the total acidity will be analyzed.
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In storage, instead, the weight, the drying/desiccation of the rachis and the hardness will all be evaluated at 0, 15, 30 and 45 days.
Grapevine fungicides
The fungicide Campo Demo will be held in the Asti province, in the center of the viticultural area. The variety considered will be the White Muscat, among the most representative of the area and very sensitive to the main cryptogamic diseases.
Products with different mechanisms of actions, for biological agriculture and widespread use in the containment of downy and powdery mildew will be tested.
In order to be able to see the effectiveness of the different solutions tested, field visits are scheduled during the second half of July.
