Development of a Low-Drift Orchard Sprayer for Trellis-Trained Crops

Abstract

To reduce spray drift in a trellis training system, the authors developed a low-drift sprayer with a close spraying mechanism and bi-directional flat fan nozzles. Spraying experiments of this new sprayer were conducted in a Japanese pear field. Results of a water spraying experiment showed that close spraying with the new sprayer at an air volume of 3.8 m³/s reduced drift distance with the same spraying performance as for 7.8 m³/s with a conventional orchard sprayer. A pesticide spraying experiment showed that, compared to 0.03 ppm pesticide residue for a conventional sprayer at an air volume of 7.8 m³/s, the new sprayer with an air volume of 3.8 m³/s resulted in less than 0.01 ppm pesticide residue on Japanese mustard spinach.