HEPIA school of agricultural engineers of Geneva and F.O.G. Study on the application of radiation UVA - UVB - UVC against various parasites and pathogens.
Updated: May 21
SummaryThe objective of this work is to test three prototypes of UV lamps with wavelengths of 222 nm, 275 nm and 310 nm and made available by the company Future of Grow (FOG) based in Aigle, Switzerland.
The goal is to determine the effectiveness of these luminaires on the control of different pests and pathogens, in this case powdery mildew and mites, on strawberry and Cannabis crops. This work has made it possible to give an idea of which UV treatment is the most effective, which will make it possible to produce use sheets that specify the amount of energy, the suspension height and the duration of application for each type of luminaire for commercial purposes.
During the study conducted on strawberries, the lamp model emitting at a wavelength of 275 nm and using a CONFIDENTIAL dose in mJ/cm2 demonstrated its predominant attractiveness. Thanks to this treatment, plants showed a significant reduction in the average loss of chlorophyll throughout their cultivation, compared to plants not treated or treated with the Armicarb® product. In detail, treated plants lost an average of 104,215 mg/m2 less chlorophyll than untreated plants, and a loss of 27,011 mg/m2 compared to those receiving Armicarb® treatment (p = 0.00002).
In addition, the different UV exposure methods did not have a significant effect on the dry mass of strawberries (p = 0.167), nor on the sugar content of fruits (p = 0.784).
Regarding the trial on Cannabis, the UV treatment that produced the largest proportion of healthy plants (without powdery mildew) is the one using a wavelength of 310 nm with a CONFIDENTIAL dose in mJ/cm2, displaying a rate of 90% of healthy plants (p = 0.009).
This proportion was not statistically different from that obtained with Armicarb® treatment. Regarding mite infestations on the apical part of plants, treatment using a wavelength of 310 nm with a CONFIDENTIAL dose in mJ/cm2 showed the lowest proportion of mite attacks, with 80% of plants remaining healthy (p = 0.022).
On the other hand, the Armicarb® treatment recorded the lowest proportion of undamaged plants, with only 40% of them remaining free of attacks. No significant variation was observed in the increase in stem diameter (p = 0.598) or in the evolution of chlorophyll (p = 0.059) among the various UV treatments and positive and negative control groups as part of the final experiment conducted on cannabis plants, using the doses tested.
UV radiation revealed aspects of agronomic interest, whether in the control of powdery mildew, the control of mites, the increase in the concentration of chlorophyll on strawberry, and the absence of stress at these specific doses. However, it is essential to conduct additional tests to determine the optimality of these UV prototypes and their real advantage.
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