Modified sprayer design for berry-producing farms

This article describes the experience of adjusting the technology of disease and insect control for protecting raspberry plantations under the conditions of a small-size berry-growing farm. The research aim was to develop a modular sprayer design that would meet the current environmental and economic requirements. Approaches to improving the ecological safety of berry plantation spraying are considered, in particular, by using the tunnel type of sprayers or charging the drops of working fl uid. Although being ecologically safe, spraying in the protected volume with the recovery of excess working liquid was shown to be unacceptable for small-size farms from the standpoint of economic effi ciency. Even under low-wind conditions, the pesticide spray on the windward side of the row form a continuous fi ne-dispersed cloud that penetrates through the fruit wall of raspberries. This eliminates the need to use a U-shaped boom. At the same time, the farm machinery operator is protected by turning the L-shaped boom by 180º to the leeward side in relation to the tractor each time the vehicle moves to the next inter-row spacing. The main object of weed control in raspberry plantations was found to be couch grass (Elymus repens), which is controlled by applying the Roundup herbicide at a dose of 5 L/ha. A special design for the herbicide boom, which can be additionally equipped with a sprayer, was proposed. Stinging nettle can be eff ectively controlled by treating its local areas with the Agritox herbicide using a backpack sprayer during periods preceding the onset of raspberry vegetation. The working solution is prepared at the rate of 1.2 L of herbicide per 200 L of water. Since farms, in addition to raspberries, may produce black currants and garden strawberries, the sprayer should be additionally equipped with a transverse horizontal boom with four levels of installation height.