Droplets deposition pattern from a prototype of a fixed spraying system in a sloping vineyard.

In Italy high-quality vines are sometimes grown in small fields with slope steeper than 5-10%, where an air-blast sprayer is impractical so spray-gun application of pesticides is used, a technique that is very costly and labour intensive, and that causes high pesticide exposure of the operators. A possible alternative is the use of a fixed spraying system, and the first researches are in progress in Italy. A fixed spraying system prototype was built in a vineyard at Laimburg Research Centre with an upper line with micro-sprinkler and a lower line with cooler-type nozzles, and a trial was performed with the aim of measuring the deposition pattern of droplets on the row and between rows with water sensitive papers, also in comparison with a precise low-drift air-blast sprayer.