Abstract
The number of spray deposits plays an important role in effective and efficient spraying. The spraying equipment is one of the most significant factors that affect the number of spray deposits. Therefore, the study was focused on the parameter optimization of a newly developed self-propelled variable height crop sprayer. Response surface methodology (RSM) along with Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to study the effect of the independent variables (forward speed, spray height, and spray pressure) on response variables such as droplet density, coverage per-centage, and Volume Median Diameter (VMD). The experiment was conducted in the cotton field. Additionally, the RSM model was validated in this research. The results revealed that the coefficient of determination (R2) values was good for all response variables in the quadratic polynomial model. The optimized parameters were 6.5 km/h, 60 cm, 4 bar for fungicide application, and 8 km/h, 70 cm, 3 bar for insecticide and herbicide application. The predicted response variable values at the optimal conditions were 60.4 droplet/cm2, 27%, 230 µm for fungicides and 37.8 droplet/cm2, 19.1%, 225.4 µm for insecticide and herbicides application. The model validation is confirmed by the mean of actual response variable values at the optimal condition for insecticide and herbicides application, which was 41.35 ± 3.67 droplet/cm2, 21.10 ± 1.72%, 227.43 ± 1.22 µm, and the prediction error was 8.46%, 9.2%, and 0.9% for droplet density, coverage percentage, and VMD, respectively. This study can provide support for further optimizing the parameters of the sprayer.
Highlights
Plant protection products are mainly used to control pests and diseases
In all the above equations, X1 is the forward speed in km/h, X2 is the spray height in cm, and X3 is the spray pressure in the bar
The results show that model factors are significant as p-value less than 0.05 for droplet density, coverage percentage, and Volume Median Diameter (VMD) (Tables 4–6)
Summary
Plant protection products are mainly used to control pests and diseases. the implementation of Integrated Pest Management Programs (IPMs) in recent years has optimized the application of these products [1–4]. Several studies have shown that spraying equipment is one of the most significant factors affecting the efficient use of plant protection products on different types of crops [10–12]. In constant-volume anti-drift nozzles, surface coverage rate, droplet density, and spray efficiencies were increased with increasing forward speed (6.4, 13.0, 19.0, and 26.0 km/h) [15]. The optimization of operating parameters of spraying equipment is mainly dependent on spray coverage quality standards. Sun et al conducted experiments to optimize the parameter of the variable spraying liquid fertilizer machine. The spray parameters such as forward speed, spray flow rate, and plot distance was analyzed using RSM with Box–Behnken center-united design principles. Height, and spray pressure of the newly developed self-propelled variable height crop sprayer u2s.iMngaRteSrMial,saaimndinMg tehtahtotdosminimize the cost, time, and environmental pollution.
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