Herbicide florpyrauxifen-benzyl via drone with different nozzles and spray volumes for weed control in rice crops

ABSTRACT: With a projected population of 9.7 billion by 2050, agricultural production is undergoing a process of intensification and seeking to adopt sustainable practices. In line with Agriculture 4.0, drones increasingly spray agricultural pesticides on crops. Their rapid evolution and new application technology parameters make these devices the target of study, in the same way as aircraft and ground sprayers were in the past. Drift is one of the parameters that needs to be understood in the drone spraying process, mainly due to the low volume of spray solution used. To verify the quality of the application via drone, equipped with different spray nozzles and spray volumes, the effectiveness on weed control, and the productivity of rice crops, two experimental areas were evaluated in Cachoeira do Sul, RS, and São Sepé, RS, Brazil. In these locations, the conventional ground treatment served as a comparison, using a spray volume of 150 L ha-1 with the AIXR TeeJet® 110 015 nozzle. In the spray carried out with a drone, the AIXR TeeJet® 110 015 and AI TeeJet® 110 015 nozzles were evaluated with spray volumes of 10 and 20 L ha-1. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design. Weed control and productivity were related to the application quality, with the evaluation of the droplet impact density and covered area on artificial targets (water-sensitive cards) and the deposit of the Brilliant Blue tracer on collectors (glass slides) when the herbicide florpyrauxifen-benzyl was sprayed. The AIXR TeeJet® 110 015 nozzle was superior to the AI TeeJet® 110 015 nozzle. A spray volume of 20 L ha-1 presented superior results for the weed control and application technology variables. Thus, spraying the herbicide florpyrauxifen-benzyl with a drone is feasible.