| Abstrakt: |
In Belgium, the mandatory inspection of field crop, orchard and vineyard sprayers was already started up in 1995. Furthermore the inspection of horticultural/ornamental sprayers, soil-disinfection machines and fogging equipment was implemented respectively in 2011, 2014 and 2023 (Figure 1). So Belgium can look back on more than 28 years of experience with the inspection of sprayers (Declercq et al., 2009 and Declercq et al., 2018). At the end of the eighties, the execution of voluntary inspections was started up to gain the necessary experience. It soon became clear that a number of thoughtful choices had to be made at the start of the mandatory inspections. In order to guarantee the impartiality, professionalism and efficiency of the inspections, a centralized organization and implementation by region was chosen. Furthermore, the analytical inspection method (mainly based on pressure and nozzle flowrate measurements) was chosen because of the mobility of the test equipment that could be used. The benefits of the Belgian system are obvious. There are only ten experienced inspectors and two regional contact points for the inspection of all Belgian sprayers, and the inspections are carried out efficiently and at a fair price. The two regional Belgian inspection services are also accredited according to ISO17020, guaranteeing the highest quality standard of the inspections that are carried out. Until now, all horticultural and ornamental sprayers (ISO 16122-4) have been inspected four times (three year cycle). The inspections were started up with a “light” inspection protocol, and the protocol was adapted throughout the different cycles based on the experiences from the inspection services. The “light” start-up protocol allowed owners to gradually adapt their sprayers to the inspection requirements or -if necessary- replace their existing sprayer. This paper presents the actual inspection results from the horticultural and ornamental pesticide application equipment and the evolution of the defects throughout the different inspection cycles. Furthermore some obstacles that were encountered and solved will be discussed. Finally, there is still some PAE that is hard to inspect completely due to its specific usage or construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
