Monitoring of the Pesticide Droplet Deposition with a Novel Capacitance Sensor.

Pei Wang,Chen Gong,Weidong Jia,Wei Yu,Mingxiong Ou

doi:10.3390/s19030537

Abstract

Rapid detection of spraying deposit can contribute to the precision application of plant protection products. In this study, a novel capacitor sensor system was implemented for measuring the spray deposit immediately after herbicide application. Herbicides with different formulations and nozzles in different mode types were included to test the impact on the capacitance of this system. The results showed that there was a linear relationship between the deposit mass and the digital voltage signals of the capacitance on the sensor surface with spray droplets. The linear models were similar for water and the spray mixtures with non-ionized herbicides usually in formulations of emulsifiable concentrates and suspension concentrates. However, the ionized herbicides in formulation of aqueous solutions presented a unique linear model. With this novel sensor, it is possible to monitor the deposit mass in real-time shortly after the pesticide application. This will contribute to the precision application of plant protection chemicals in the fields.

Highlights

The usage of pesticides has increased significantly in the last two decades in China [1]
When the deposit is greater than 0.2 g on the leaf like sensor, the signal voltages were much higher of the sensor with aqueous solutions (AS) droplets than the emulsifiable concentrates (EC), suspension concentrates (SC), or water droplets
The glyphosate is a weak acid herbicide. It usually exists as a salt compound and will divide into two ions with opposite charges after being dissolved in the water, while the other herbicides with formulations like EC or SC usually contain organic ingredients which could not dissolve and ionize in the water

Summary

Introduction

The usage of pesticides has increased significantly in the last two decades in China [1]. The over usage of pesticides will cause unnecessary invest for the farmers, leading to more residue of the pesticide ingredients in the food products and the soil, and damage the eco-system as well [4,5,6]. It can induce the resistant property of the weeds, insects, and diseases, which makes the pest management strategies more complicated [7,8]. The effective approaches to monitor the droplet deposition doses during the pesticide application are in urgent demands. Few methodologies have been reported to evaluate the droplet deposition doses after pesticide application

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion