Issue no. 2002/6

Pesticide Management Diary CD launched

The Pesticide Management Diary has been developed in an electronic format (CD) for easy use. This electronic format contains a range of recording sheets and provides a recording system to suit individual business needs. The CD Pesticide Management Diary is compatible with Windows 95/98/NT/2000 and Macintosh OS operating systems. The CD has been developed to automatically run when placed into the CD drive.

Pesticides – a definition

A pesticide is any product that has a claim to kill, protect against, destroy, or affect a pest.All pesticides must be registered with the National Registration Authority (NRA) and have a NRA approval number on the container. Products considered to be pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, plantgrowth regulators, molluscicides, rodenticides and disinfestants.

The Pesticide Management Diary has six different recording formats.The nursery (retail or production) can view these sheets and find one that suits its business requirements.

Selection of a particular sheet can be based on the level of computer skills in the business, the type of computer used, how the records are to be stored, or amount of information the nursery believes they need to record. The Pesticide Management Diary has two systems available to the operator. The options allow for electronic or hard-copy data entry and storage.

• Option 1: Print only option.The user would print out the form they have selected to use and fill in the relevant fields by hand and store as a hard copy.

• Option 2: The user can choose to type the information into the fields on the form selected.

The completed form is saved electronically on the computer’s hard drive and can be recalled and printed as a hard copy. Note:The CD must be in the drive when retrieving saved sheets at a later date.

Record keeping is a fundamental process of any business. A nursery keeps stock records, financial records and staff records for effective management of the business. Likewise, it is important to record the application of pesticides, in both retail and production nurseries, as part of the overall management of the crop and as a sound business principle.With the complexity and uncertainty of today’s business world, it is unrealistic to expect people to keep all the information on their business activities in their heads.

To further highlight the need for record keeping, the nursery industry is required to comply with state legislation in relation to pesticide application.

Many states of Australia have pesticide-application record-keeping requirements detailed in the relevant Occupational Health & Safety laws. Other states have specific requirements in their pesticideapplication legislation for agriculture and horticulture.

Nationally the NRA, the Commonwealth body overseeing the registration of agricultural and veterinary chemicals in Australia, has started to enforce record keeping of pesticide applications through specific instructions on the pesticide label. It is important to remember that the label on a pesticide container is a legal document and all instructions must be followed.

It is clear that we have a legal obligation to record our pesticide applications and store those records for varying amounts of time.The storage time is dependant on the different state requirements outlined in the relevant legislation.

Putting aside the legal aspects, it is worth noting that sound record keeping can be used to assist the business in a range of other ways.

Pesticide records are useful

Records can be used as a defence against a false complaint made against the business; they can be used as a check sheet (eg. tick off safety equipment used) for staff each time they apply the pesticides; and used as a guide in a well-developed pesticiderotation program. Records are useful in identifying pesticides that are not effective by knowing what was used for a particular problem and then monitoring the crop post-application. Nurseries using a pesticide-application recording system are avoiding the hit-and-miss approach to chemical spraying and are finding they are achieving better results due to the accuracy of their information.

In the long term, records can be used as a safety net in forecasting likely pest problems in the years ahead. Nurseries are looking at their records and studying the pesticide applications they have made in the past, and using this information to plan ahead. The aim, where possible, is to prevent pest problems by applying preventative pesticides or to change either a crop cultural aspect or an environmental condition to minimise the problem.

It is often easier and cheaper to prevent the problem from occurring rather than have to go through the cost (labour, chemical, crop damage, etc) of remedial action (pesticide applications).

Integrated Pest Management

Many nurseries are moving towards an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to managing their pest (and disease) problems.IPM includes the use of pesticides in the overall management strategy, complementing the use of biological, cultural, quarantine, varietal, etc, strategies employed by the business. It is impossible to implement an IPM system without keeping accurate records. These records must be in a format that can be retrieved and used in the information stream to assist in making informed decisions. IPM is based on sound monitoring techniques before and after any management strategy is employed – pesticide applications included.

The Pesticide Application Diary has been designed to provide the nursery industry with the means to comply with the various legal requirements in different states, as well as making the records easy to access and use.The different sheets are included (as opposed to one standard sheet) on the CD to allow nurseries the flexibility of choosing a format that suits their needs.

Several different forms available

The Agrochemical Usage Form is in a format that allows it to be used for one application, or combination of, pesticide/s. This means that those businesses that prefer to record only oneapplication per sheet can do so without having to alter a standard form.The form allows the operator to click on the button in the month section, which drops down a yearly calendar of months. Select the correct month and it is automatically inserted.The sections covering application method and personal protective equipment require that the operator check the relevant box. General movement around the Pesticide Management Diary is by the tab or enter key. Moving the cursor via the mouse is also accepted.

Nurseries that wish to record one application per form, yet maximise the use of their record storage system, may find the Pesticide Usage Form (see illustration) more to their liking. This form allows separate records to be kept for each application, however the sheet allows two applications to be recorded on the same page. Again the sections covering application and safety equipment are filled in through the use of check boxes.

To complete the form the operator must type the remainder of the information in. If you use a regular spray program through the course of a year, and you rotate a range of pesticides within this program, saving the sheets based on the pesticide/s used allows you to simply call up the relevant sheet.

Change the date on the re-opened sheet when next you apply that pesticide to the same crop/area.This is as long as all other information is the same. If not, you change the information in the relevant field and save.

Many nurseries prefer to have the option of recording multiple pesticide applications in date order on the same sheet.

This has been catered for in the Spray Record Sheet (see illustration), which asks you to record your information across the page.The sheet will record five separate pesticide applications – one under the other – with all fields needing the information to be typed into them by the operator.The same save and retrieve options as mentioned earlier areavailable with this format and to all the record sheets on the CD. Remember that the CD needs to be in the drive before you can open saved sheets.

Maintaining the operation and soundness of pesticideapplication equipment is a key element in ensuring that the application of the pesticide is going to be economical and successful. A component of this maintenance is to regularly calibrate your sprayapplication equipment including knapsacks,hydraulic handguns and misters. The calibration will indicate if there are problems with the equipment such as worn nozzles, damaged pump or other components, line blockages and incorrect use of components.The calibration is the measurement of how much liquid the sprayer puts out over a given area in a specified time.This is referred to as the application rate and nurseries can use this information to guide them in equipment maintenance and nozzle selection.

The CD has included a calibration calculation page (see illustration) that allows you to type in the specifics (flow rate, swath width and distance travelled) and the calculator will automatically complete the calibration. If you are using a pesticide that only has a hectare rate on the label, then the second part of the calibration formula is used. Type in the spray-tank volume and the chemical rate and the calculator completes the calculation and provides you with the amount of pesticide needed to be added to your spray tank.

Generally pesticides used in nurseries have the rate per litre of water on the label, so this second stage is not often required.
 

For further information

Contact your nursery industry development officer at your state Nursery & Garden Industry office.

Acknowledgments

Nursery Industry Development Officer Queensland, John McDonald, ensured the completion of this project and Nursery Paper.