INTERACTION BETWEEN APPLICATION VOLUME, AIRFLOW, AND SPRAY QUALITY IN AIR-ASSISTED SPRAYING

摘要

Spray experiments were performed on potato plants to determine the effect of spray quality (medium, very fine) and volume of application (150 and 300 L ha{sup}(-1)) under increasing velocity of air assistance (0, 30, 35, and 40 m s{sup}(-1) air speed). Deposits on the upper and lower surfaces of leaves were measured on leaves in the top, middle, and bottom portions of the canopy using a fluorescent dye. In conjunction with the use of a very fine spray, air assistance tended to increase deposit uniformity along the vertical extent of the plants and to reduce the coefficient of variation of the deposits. Uniformity was best at an air speed of 30 m s{sup}(-1). Under these conditions, increasing the application volume increased the deposits. These observations led to the conclusion that air assistance is useful when there is a need to increase the uniformity of the deposits.