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Spray Deposition and Losses to Soil from a Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Airblast Sprayer on Coffee

Authors :
João Paulo Arantes Rodrigues da Cunha
Luana de Lima Lopes
Caio Oliveira Rodrigues Alves
Cleyton Batista de Alvarenga
Source :
AgriEngineering, Vol 6, Iss 3, Pp 2385-2394 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

Remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) have been increasingly used for crop protection in coffee plantations. However, the applications can result in low spray deposition on leaves and higher product losses between rows compared to ground airblast sprayers. This study aimed to evaluate the spray deposition on the coffee canopy and potential losses to the soil during application with an RPA and an airblast sprayer at varying spray volumes. The experiment comprised four spray treatments: RPA at 10 L ha−1 and 20 L ha−1, and airblast sprayer at 200 L ha−1 and 300 L ha−1. Leaf deposition was quantified by measuring a tracer on leaves from the lower and upper parts of the coffee canopy using spectrophotometry. Spray losses to the soil were measured by analyzing tracer residues on Petri dishes positioned within the inter-rows and beneath the coffee canopy. Statistical process control was used to analyze spray deposition quality in the study area. Ground-based airblast spraying resulted in the highest overall canopy deposition, while RPA spraying led to greater losses within the inter-rows. No significant difference was observed in spray runoff beneath the canopy between ground-based and aerial applications. Leaf deposition exhibited random variability across all application methods. Therefore, application stability, control, and spray quality standards were maintained.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
26247402
Volume :
6
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
AgriEngineering
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.59143805b4a74a118ccdd7f7cc654f66
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering6030139