| Popis: |
Pesticide runoff and drift continue to be major problems in orchard spray applications. A new orchard sprayer, the RECUPAIR (Patent Pending), was designed to capture most of the droplets that do not deposit on target trees. The RECUPAIR was developed jointly by Agriculture and Agri–Food Canada HRDC and Universite Laval and a prototype was built for citrus orchards at the University of Florida. The sprayer consists of an axial–flow fan, over–the–row air and liquid ducts, hydraulic nozzles, and a spray capture and re–circulating system. The spray is discharged horizontally from the far side of the sprayer and unused droplets are collected on a capture panel located on the sprayer chassis. Design features and functional mechanisms were evaluated and discussed. Preliminary results indicated that the sprayer could be effective in reducing pesticide wastage in citrus applications. |
