October 15, 2019 | Good Fruit Grower
Spray without the sprayer – To get good coverage, researchers modified low-cost irrigation emitters to bounce a cone of spray up into the grapevine canopy as part of a trial to optimize the engineering of a solid-set spray delivery system for vineyards underway at the Washington State University’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser. Lead researcher Lav Khot says the system aims to provide efficient coverage with minimal drift.
Researchers across the country have been collaborating on the idea, which started in tree fruit, for close to a decade now. Matt Grieshop at Michigan State University leads the project, which is funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative grants.
“We are as good as airblast in terms of coverage and deposition, but with less drift,” said Rajeev Sinha, who recently finished his doctorate at Washington State University while working on the system. “The best thing is the part that’s lost to drift in airblast hits the canopy, too… continue reading the article…
Read the article: Spray without the sprayer. 2019, Good Fruit Grower.