A Small Self-Propelled Sprayer for Agricultural Research

Abstract

The precision, accuracy, and number of experiments conducted for chemical control of insects or diseases of agricultural crops depend largely upon the type of application equipment available. The equipment used for pest and disease control by commercial growers is too large and cumbersome for use in the small field plots required in replicated insect or disease control experiments. Such equipment lacks the maneuverability to negotiate sharp turns in passing from one test plot to another in a replicated trial and the spray tank is so large that the use of small quantities of material is inaccurate. Hand equipment, such as the flit gun, knapsack sprayer, or compressed air sprayer, is grossly unreliable in attempting to apply a constant gallonage among several experimental treatments. It fails to duplicate or approximate the performance of equipment used by the commercial grower, and requires a tremendous expenditure in time and labor. The time and labor involved in using hand equipment is especially important in an area like the Everglades where it may be necessary to apply insecticides as often as every 48 hours for the control of insect pests on some vegetable crops.

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