It’s a problem that plagues farmers and haunts environmentalists: how to reduce pesticide applications and ensure they are used most effectively. Cornell agricultural engineer Andrew Landers has come up with a novel, high-tech solution, using ultrasound sensors to better match sprays to their vineyard and orchard targets.
Traditional sprayers deliver a constant amount of spray along a row and are a poor match for the natural variation within an orchard or vineyard. Droplets can also “drift” nine to 10 rows away from their intended canopy targets, carrying pesticides – and the grower’s investment – into unwanted places, including waterways, neighboring property or sensitive crops.
“Controlling where pesticide droplets land allows for safer use of pesticides,” said Landers, a senior extension associate at Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. “The ideal is uniform deposition, but overshooting is a problem, particularly in early to midseason, when vineyard and orchard canopies are still growing.”
Read the rest of the story in the Cornell Chronicle, and click to learn more about Cornell’s Pesticide Application Technology Program.
