Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pyroligneous acid alone and in combination with insecticides in control of caterpillars and on the agronomic performance of soybean. The experiment was conducted under field and laboratory conditions in Bom Jesus - PI, in the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 crop seasons. The field experiment used in a randomized block, 4 x 4 factorial design with four replications, the factors consisting of four pyroligneous acid concentrations (zero, 1.5, 3.0, and 6.0%) and five insecticide treatments: lambdacyhalothrin + thiamethoxam (15.9 g ha^-1 + 21.15 g ha^-1), cypermethrin (300 g ha^-1), chlorpyriphos (240 g ha^-1), teflubenzuron (7.5 g ha^-1). In the laboratory a completely randomized design was used with 12 treatments and five replications. We evaluated the control of A. gemmatalis and P. includens (in field and laboratory), agronomic characteristics and yield. The application of pyroligneous acid alone or in combination with insecticides provided levels of control of A. gemmatalis and P. includens similar to the insecticides tested. There was no effect of pyroligneous acid on the number of pods plant^-1 or grains pod^-1. The yield was higher than the control, but did not differ from the other treatments containing pyroligneous acid alone or in combination. According to laboratory and field tests, it appears that the pyroligneous extract affected the number of larvae plant^-1 and reduced leaf consumption, an important result for management programs of A. gemmatalis and P. includens.

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