Dr. Aiello: “With Martignani, treatments take half the time and use one-third the amount of water.”

Scanzano Jonico, Matera. A charming village where culture, tradition, and colorful landscapes come together. The town is situated on the coast and enjoys a mild climate ideal for agriculture. It is here that the Aiello Luigi farm is located, a partner of Martignani for over 20 years.

The farm spans 24 hectares of orange groves, which are treated with two Martignani sprayers. The most recent one was purchased in May of this year.

We wanted to speak with the owner, Dr. Aiello, to understand how he operates and what he thinks of Martignani’s technology. The farm currently uses a 1,000-liter, wheeled Whirlwind Turbo 1 sprayer .

“The sprayer’s versatility allows me to decide on a daily basis which strategy to adopt.”

Dr. Aiello explains that treatments with plant protection products are carried out, on average, every fifteen days, “with peaks even on a weekly basis” and adds that, as far as the volume of water used is concerned, “there is no set rule, in the sense that The sprayer’s versatility allows me to decide on a daily basis which strategy to adopt”. Our client explains that “The amount of water to be used is not fixed (for example, this morning I decide to use 200 liters of water per hectare, and tomorrow I decide to use 300 liters), meaning that on the day of spraying, after checking the weather forecast—and especially the predicted wind speed—we decide to treat five hectares with a single tank because the wind is forecast to be 5 knots until 11 a.m. Once the first pass is complete, if weather conditions (i.e., wind) permit, we continue; otherwise, we decide to treat only one hectare with 300 liters per hectare.“.

From this perspective, Dr. Aiello maintains that the decision regarding the number of liters to use is dictated by one’s own needs. To respect buffer zones— that is, adjacent areas that must be protected (roads, other crops, bike paths, rivers, etc.)— Martignani technology is a valuable ally, as it allows you to work at low and very low volumes using an electrostatic charge. In fact, Aiello says that ““If I have a plot of leafless peaches a kilometer away, I can use as much as 100 liters per hectare. The same applies if I have a limited water supply—perhaps collected in a cistern during rainfall. Even in that case, I have to use as little water as possible.”

We asked our client about the use of pesticides, since using Martignani sprayers can reduce the amount of chemical used by as much as 40 or 45 percent. He responded with an anecdote: “When I used a Martignani for the first time twenty years ago, I was very alarmed, thinking I’d made a terrible purchase, because as the tank passed by, I didn’t see the water pouring onto the ground as it did with my old sprayer—not realizing that along with the water falling to the ground, the pesticide was also being wasted. And that is precisely the strength and the difference of the Martignani.”

Dr. Aiello reminds us how much easier it is to clean a car’s windshield when it’s raining than when there’s fog.“This means that on a surface, the more water there is, the more the surface is washed clean.” Martignani’s low volume acts like fog, creating a film on the vegetation.

The Aiello farm uses 10% less of the product than the label recommends, perhaps due to“an age-old and deeply rooted belief that instructions must be followed.” “In fact,” he adds, “in the old instructions, which specified grams per hectoliter, chemical companies factored in the amount lost during treatment.” In the case of Martignani, this amount does not exist because there is neither ground drift nor runoff.

Citrus Treatment

Typically, with conventional sprayers, citrus treatments are applied at rates of 1,000 or 1,500 liters per hectare. In the case of organic treatments, the rate sometimes reaches 3,000 liters per hectare. Furthermore, growers are often concerned that the product does not reach the trunk of the plant effectively, where aggressive diseases such as dry rot—which causes tissue necrosis and progressive desiccation—or scale insect infestations can develop.

In this regard, Dr. Aiello not only uses one-third as much water for treatment but also adds that“one might think that during treatment the pesticide fails to reach the plant’s trunk; in my experience, I can assure you that with Martignani sprayers, even the trunk is reached perfectly.”

Martignani Means Savings

Many of our customers around the world have reported that, when factoring in diesel, labor, product, and water, using Martignani sprayers can result in savings of approximately 250 € per hectare per year. In response, Dr. Aiello says,“I haven’t quantified the actual savings in euros, but I can only say that yesterday morning we started a treatment at 7:00 a.m., and by 9:00 a.m. we had treated four hectares of land, including the mixing of the pesticide. With conventional sprayers, it would have taken twice as long.”

Our client rightly pointed out“the high cost of Martignani sprayers,” but also added that“since routine maintenance is practically nonexistent, the initial investment pays for itself many times over, which is why I’m thrilled to have made it.”