ISHS Acta Horticulturae 660: V International Congress on Artichoke
NEW ALTERNATIVES TO CONVENTIONAL PESTICIDE APPLICATION SYSTEMS FOR ARTICHOKES |
| Authors: | M.C. Rocamora, L. Val |
| Keywords: | air-assisted sprayer, boom sprayer, plant coverage |
| Abstract:
Dense artichoke canopy makes the penetration of pesticide sprays to target site by boom type sprayers difficult. Consequently at lower volumes the sprays are inefficient in producing optimum pest control, hence, requiring higher volumes to ensure complete plant coverage. It is highly desirable that horticultural sprayers allow pesticide applications in an efficient manner under a wide range of conditions against a variety of pests affecting the host crop. Tests were conducted in artichokes to evaluate the performance of an air-assisted sprayer equipped with flexible ducts leading the air toward the crop using different positions of air outlet, types of nozzles, and different rates of spray volume. The results were compared with those obtained with a conventional hydraulic boom-sprayer. For the collection of samples of spray deposit, artificial targets (white plastic cards) were placed in different zones of the artichoke plant canopy and sprayed with a colored water used as the test substance. Distribution and density of spray droplets on the target sites were measured by means of image analysis. Generalized linear models were used to model the sprayer performance. Spray applications with air-assisted sprayer provided more uniform deposits of the test substance at different levels of the plant canopy than did the boom sprayer. The flexibility of air ducts on air-assisted sprayer allowed the outlets to be adjusted as required and a variable number of them could be allocated to each row. Better coverage and uniformity were achieved by directing three outlets per row. Any decrease in spray deposits due to volume reduction was not proportional to the decrease in the applied volume, which could be compensated with an adjustment of chemical doses. | |
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