Pesticide dose adjustment in fruit and grapevine orchards by DOSA3D: Fundamentals of the system and on-farm validation.

Agricultural productivity cannot be sustained without the application of plant protection measures. Within the framework of integrated pest management (IPM), the use of chemical pesticides should be limited to the last option among the available practices. Even though their use remains common, it carries associated environmental and human health risks.

Bases for pesticide dose expression and adjustment in 3D crops and comparison of decision support systems.

Authorities around the world have committed to limiting the use of chemical pesticides by reducing doses, among other strategies. Nevertheless, different dose expression models and decision support systems (DSSs) for dose adjustment coexist for high growing crops (3D crops). Among them, leaf wall area (LWA) and tree row volume (TRV) models have recently been proposed by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) for pre-registration trials.

Determination of spray drift and buffer zones in 3D crops using the ISO standard and new LiDAR methodologies.

Spray drift generated in the application of plant protection products in tree crops (3D crops) is a major source of environmental contamination, with repercussions for human health and the environment. Spray drift contamination acquires greater relevance in the EU Southern Zone due to the crops structure and the weather conditions. Hence, there is a need to evaluate spray drift when treating the most representative 3D crops in this area.

Assessment of spray drift potential reduction for hollow-cone nozzles: Part 2. LiDAR technique.

Pesticide spray drift poses health hazards to humans and causes a significant impact on the environment. In this work the capacity of an ad hoc light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system to differentiate spray nozzles according to their potential drift risk is evaluated for the first time. A total of 23 drift potential tests using 10 hollow-cone nozzles were carried out with the sprayer kept in a static position.

Assessment of spray drift potential reduction for hollow-cone nozzles: Part 1. Classification using indirect methods.

Spray drift is one of the main pollution sources identified when pesticides are sprayed on crops. In this work, in order to simplify the evaluation of hollow-cone nozzles according to their drift potential reduction, several models commonly used were tested by three indirect methods: phase Doppler particle analyser (PDPA) and two different wind tunnels. The main aim of this study is then to classify for the first time these hollow-cone nozzle models all of them used in tree crop spraying (3D crops).

Performance of an ultrasonic ranging sensor in apple tree canopies.

Electronic canopy characterization is an important issue in tree crop management. Ultrasonic and optical sensors are the most used for this purpose. The objective of this work was to assess the performance of an ultrasonic sensor under laboratory and field conditions in order to provide reliable estimations of distance measurements to apple tree canopies.