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Van Steenwyk RA, Siegel JP, Bisabri B, Cabuslay CS, Choi JM, Steggall JW, Mace KC, Blecker SW, Poe PA, Peters-Collaer SR, Klassen P. Spray drift mitigation using opposing synchronized air-blast sprayers. Pest Manag Sci 2021; 77:895-905. [PMID: 32949089 DOI: 10.1002/ps.6094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pesticide drift is a serious environmental and safety concern that affects all of US agriculture. A number of mitigation techniques to reduce pesticide drift have been recommended by industry, academic and government agencies. These techniques are very costly or reduce the efficacy of the pest control product and have not been implemented by US agriculture. RESULTS When using a novel spray technique (Air-in), pesticide drift was significantly reduced by between 53% and 99% at 7.6 m from the orchard drip line when compared to the grower standard. This technique not only reduced pesticide drift, but also maintained or improved the amount of pesticide residue deposited (by 0.7-2.6-fold) and the percentage pesticide coverage (by 1.0-1.4-fold) with different air-blast speed sprayers on almond, walnut and pistachio. CONCLUSION The Air-in technique shows great promise in reducing pesticide drift while maintaining or improving pesticide coverage with minimal cost to the grower.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A Van Steenwyk
- Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Christian S Cabuslay
- Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Jaimie M Choi
- Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - J W Steggall
- Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, USA
- Department of Land, Air, Water Resources, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Kevi C Mace
- Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, USA
- Department of Agricultural Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Steve W Blecker
- Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, USA
- Department of Agricultural Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Perry A Poe
- Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Stephen R Peters-Collaer
- Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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