Energy Use Efficacy of Different Sprayers on Crop Pest Management

Abstract

Pesticide application plays a major role in environmental hazards associated with over application and off-target movement of toxic pesticides from inefficient spray application. The introduction of electrically charged sprays for agricultural application can provide greater control of droplet transport with impending reduction of wastage. The study aims to compare the efficacy of electrostatic sprayer on pest control in comparison with mist blower (air assisted sprayer) and air compression sprayer (hydraulic sprayer). Six pests were viz. pumpkin beetle, cowpea aphid, cucurbit fruit fly, brinjal mealy bug, caterpillar and chilli mite were selected based on specific characteristics viz. integumental, movement and ecological niche. Energy use efficiency in production and application of pesticides used by different sprayers for the control of selected pests were quantified based on application efficiency of sprayers, Pre and Post pest count and the reoccurrence of pest infestation after spray. The energy use efficiency of electrostatic sprayer was found to be 1.5 times more than that of mist blower and 2 times more than that of air compression sprayers. In the chemical usage by electrostatic sprayer was reduced by 65 per cent and that of knapsack mist blower was 35 per cent with air compression sprayers. The post pest count was almost nil in all the categories of pest while applying with electrostatic sprayer and the reoccurrence of the pest to the threshold level was minimum. This contributed a significant increase in energy use efficiency of electrostatic sprayer, when it considered globally.