Workshop: Spraying standards

Transcription

1 Marko Hočevar, Roberto Oberti University of Ljubljana University of Milano Workshop: Spraying standards

2 Introduction 1 to protect plants from diseases and pests,chemicals are used which have to be most uniformly applied protection efficiency relies on amount and uniformity of spray deposit (drops per unit of surface) on susceptible targets and timeliness of the application in orchards and vineyards pesticides should be applied as precise as possible to all parts of plants, front and behind, top and bottom, as well as within the canopy for targeted spraying: detection positioning airflow properties 2

3 Introduction 2 Application of agrochemicals is at present, the primary method used to protect plants from pests (diseases, fungi, insects, weeds) Spraying is the process of droplets formation and transportation to individual target on the plant in form of spray droplets In orchard and vineyard effective coverage is often obtained by over-rating and repeating applications even in non-ideal conditions with risks of contaminations to air, soil and water operator s exposure exceeding residue thresholds on harvested products increasing farm production costs 3

4 Introduction 3 there is wide room and strong need of introducing optimization elements in pesticides application to crops CROPS (WP7) will address the topic of intelligent control of spraying in orchard and, in particular, in vineyard, with focus on the following: canopy optimised spraying (UniLj) precision close range spraying (UniMi) common objective is reducing the amount of chemicals applied, while increasing the protection efficiency through an improved targeting/coverage of the vegetation 4

5 Drift YIELD: pesticides must reach and stay on the plant, only there can help protect the plant ECOLOGY: pesticides must reach and stay on the plant, only there can degrade over time to air small droplets drift away small droplets evaporate to the ground and groundwater too big droplets fall on the floor before they reach the plant runoff, droplets from leaves fall on the floor if some positions are sprayed too much 5

6 State of the art spraying mostly uniform several methods exist, how to adjust spraying volume, but mostly producers of pesticides prescribe dose per ha how spraying is done?: pour the right amount in the tank, add water, mix, select tractor speed, select nozzles type, select pump pressure, select fan blade angle, go, then clean GPS : very traditional methods for CROPS amount of spraying liquid makes no problems yet 6

7 Sprayer components pesticide tank and suction filter pesticide pump (driven by PTO shaft) agitator and mixer pressure regulation valve filters pesticide nozzles fan (driven by PTO shaft) airflow nozzles clean water tank, tank for washing hands 7

8 Sprayer types sprayer, mistblower, air-assisted sprayer classification axial fan axial fan with deflector (EU both 76%) radial fan radial fan with deflector (EU both 13%) cross flow fan (EU 7%) tunnel sprayer (EU 4%) for CROPS radial fan with deflectors is suitable 8

9 Orchard systems slender spindle, littlepossibility to change current growing practice away from slender spindle system, however, slender spindle system is already quite optimal for CROPS nets supports, wire when and where savings can be achieved? first winter sprayings, no well trained older orchards, no missing trees, yes triangle spaces, yes turning at the end of the rows, all year long, yes 9

10 Flow properties appropriate velocity to reach the target size of the spray versus the size of the target size of droplets, angle of spray wind velocity appropriate turbulence level diseases develop on lower sides of leaves in the center of the canopy on orchard borders 10

11 Measurement of deposit The spray deposit is measured by several methods water sensitive papers spraying with tracers spray characterisation with direct imaging 11

12 Canopy detection - commercial IR sensors, light curtain Müller-Elektronik ECO Reflex Jacoby JACOlogic Ultrasonic Durand Weyland Smart spray 12

13 Canopy detection - Crops detection laser scanner or light curtain color camera thermal camera stereo vision chlorophyll detection ultrasonic sensors something else? analysis averaging mapping sensor fusion 13

14 Disease detection The concept of selective or precision spraying can be traced back to the 1990 s, proposed for patch weeds control in arable crops obtained by singularly PWM solenoid-actuated nozzles to control the flowrate independently operation based on prescription maps defined by farmer scoutings A step further in arable crops was reached with in-situ sensing of weeds and also of disease symptoms for selective application of pesticides on infected, or prone to infection. To this aim spectral reflectance, hyper spectral imaging, chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral imaging or combination of them have been used. Currently running research has extended the application of the concept also to the orchard and vineyard case, but few progress has been reported on automated disease detection in fruit crops and grapevine demanding and ambitious tasks (is there any easy in CROPS?) but adding intelligence to crop spraying could dramatically impact on future protection practice, contributing to EU roadmap towards agricultural sustainibility 14

15 Standards 1 EU Framework concerns of Authorization of Plant Protection Products Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products Requirements for Plant Protection Equipment General goals: Introducing new and safer sprayers in agriculture Help sustainable use of pesticides 15

16 Standards 2 In particular DIRECTIVE 2009/127 is expected to have an impact by with goals of: Reducing risks and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment Decreasing of the use intensity (necessary amount) of plant protection products Encouraging the development of integrated pest management and of alternative approaches or techniques to reduce dependency on pesticides Establishing regular inspections of pesticide application equipment in professional use Member States shall introduce measures to ensure the reduction of domestic and imported food and feed products exceeding the regulation The last is more and more becoming a commercial issue: the use of documented methods aimed to reduce treatments is increasingly considered as a key factor in accessing high added value markets 16

17 Standards 3 the Machinery Directive 2006/42/ECand the amendment to the Machinery set out in Directive 2009/127/EC sets general principles controls and monitoring filling and emptying application of pesticides, application rate distribution, deposition and drift of pesticide tests losses during stoppage maintenance, cleaning servicing inspections marking of nozzles, strainers and filters 17