Cesare De Zanche, Dario Friso
Department of Land and Agroforestry Systems
Mechanization and Plant Engineering Section, University of Padua.
Abstract
A field trial was conducted in which a sprayer with low volume and pneumatic atomization, an electrostatic charge, and a targeted spray pattern (A) was used for plant protection in an apple orchard.
Tests were conducted on the quality of the application, with particular attention to drift and ground drift, comparing the machine both with a mixed-spray sprayer (B)—which features a centrifugal fan—and with an air-convection-type sprayer (C) (sprayer). This was accomplished by processing the field data collected using hydrosensitive paper, using image analysis, followed by further computer processing that led to the creation of cross-sectional diagrams across the rows showing the elevation profiles of the surface area covered, as a percentage, by the droplets emitted by the various pieces of equipment. The evaluations were then extended to phytosanitary aspects, with monitoring of the crop in response to the various plant-protection treatments; however, this comparison was limited to sprayers A and B.
The results regarding distribution dynamics clearly favor Machine A. In terms of plant health, Machine A was found to have effects similar to those of the traditional method; in fact, its effectiveness against aphids and leaf spot was significantly higher…
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