Laser tag: intelligent sprayers change the pest management game

• Published in: Acta horticulturae no. 1055; pp. 447 - 451
• Main Authors: Fulcher, Amy, Cochran, Diana, Rosetta, Robin, Zondag, Randall, Zhu, Heping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Society for Horticultural Science 01.01.2014
• Subjects: active ingredients; Agricultural Research Service; air pollution; air-assisted sprayers; canopy; controllers; ecosystems; environmental quality; fruit trees; humans; integrated pest management; markets; mixing; mortality; nursery crops; occupational health and safety; ornamental plants; pesticide application; pesticides; pests; plant architecture; plant characteristics; plant residues; risk; solenoids; tractors; trade; water footprint; Ohio; Georgia
• ISSN: 0567-7572
• DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2014.1055.95

Pests pose a substantial threat to the sale of nursery crops (LeBude et al., 2012) and increase the cost of producing ornamental crops. For example, losses due to plant disease in Georgia nurseries were estimated at $43.4 million in 2007 (Martinez, 2008). Application of pesticides, as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) program, can serve an important role in decreasing plant mortality, maintaining plant quality to a market acceptable level, and complying with plant trade requirements (Cloyd, 2008). However, pesticide use by its very nature can pose a threat to human and ecosystem health. By refining pesticide applications, environmental and human risk can be reduced. Air-assisted sprayers are conventionally used to apply pesticides to nursery crops. However, less than 30% of pesticide applications are intercepted by the intended nursery canopy (Zhu et al., 2006). Increasing spray application efficiency could improve worker safety by reducing active ingredient residue on plant surfaces and air contamination. Additionally, because of the increased efficiency, the tank would be refilled less frequently, reducing opportunities for the spray applicator to come into contact with concentrated pesticides during mixing. Increasing efficiency would not only reduce the total amount of active ingredients applied but also decrease the water footprint of each pesticide application, improving environmental quality. To increase spray application efficiency, two variable-rate output spray systems that integrate plant characteristics in real time were developed for nursery applications: an air-assisted sprayer for wide species of nursery and fruit tree crops (Chen et al., 2012) and a hydraulic boom sprayer for young, narrow trees such as liners (Jeon and Zhu, 2012). Both sprayers are sensor-guided, employing a high-speed laser scanning sensor and ultrasonic sensor for the air-assisted and boom sprayers, respectively. The sensors detect the presence or absence of a plant, plant architecture, canopy volume, and tractor speed, while controllers manipulate the solenoids to produce variable-rate spray outputs based on plant characteristics and plant occurrence in real time. Sprayers were developed at the USDA-ARS Application Technology Research Unit in Wooster, Ohio.