Pesticide spray drift and runoff represent major pathways of pesticide loss from agricultural land to aquatic ecosystems. Knowledge on pesticide drift in agricultural catchments and its contribution to runoff contamination is scarce. Here we characterisedthe spatial variability of drift from the fungicide kresoxim methyl (KM) in a vineyard catchment, and we quantified its export via runoff. Surface deposits were monitored at 54 locations during air assisted spraying to evaluate direct ground-exposure. Pesticide deposits ranged from 0 to 1.5 mg m-�. Our results indicate that KM deposition on soil varied largely at both temporal and spatial scales, and depended mainly on the vegetation characteristics and climatic factors. The load of deposited KM that can be mobilised via runoff was 375 times larger than the mass exported at the catchment outlet, which suggests large KM attenuation within the catchment. Spray drift and runoff require thorough characterisation for better predicting the runoff-related loads of KM.

Kresoxim methyl drift and related runoff in a vineyard catchment

244th National Meeting (2012)

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