Investment in Plant Protection with an Initial Copper Deposit

The impact and influence of copper fungicides is large and as durable as their deposits against the most intense weathering pressures planet earth has to offer. Copper fungicide has been at the forefront of plant disease control since the establishment of copper’s activity as a biocide in 1885. Several supreme ironies surround discovery of copper as a highly effective broad-spectrum fungicide. Like many other major discoveries, including Penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming, it was an accidental milestone in science and technology. In the late nineteenth century vineyard owners in the M??doc region of southern France were splashing grapevines alongside public footpaths with a concoction of copper sulphate and slaked lime ‐ CuS0 4 .5H 2 O + Ca(OH) 2 . The unsightly water resistant deposits left on the foliage and bunches deterred the pilfering of grapes.