Pesticide spraying method with low cost and less pollution

Scientists at the University of Vienna in Austria have introduced a cost-effective and pollution-free method of spraying the empty shells of dead bacteria filled with chemical pesticides on the branches and leaves of plants. The pesticides sprayed by this method are not easy to be washed away even under heavy rain, which can not only improve the efficiency of pesticide use, but also save cost and reduce environmental pollution.

Pesticides sprayed on crops in the past are easily washed away when it rains. In order to ensure the insecticidal effect, spraying must be repeated frequently. This is not only a waste, but also increases the pollution of pesticides to soil and water.

The scientists selected a kind of bacteria that can easily attach to plants and extracted a protein from the virus that infects the bacteria, the phage virus, and deals with these bacteria. The protein can make a small hole in the bacterial shell and go deep into the bacterial cell, damaging the cytoplasm and nucleus, leaving the bacteria with only an empty shell. The researchers filled the bacterial shells with chemical pesticides, sprinkled them on barley, cotton, corn, cabbage, rice and soybeans, and washed them with simulated heavy rain. it was found that 10% to 55% of the bacterial shells were not washed away after the "heavy rain". Among them, the most empty shells of bacteria were preserved in rice and the least in soybean.