Pesticides Application and Best Practice Methods

Training course support

1st version compiled by:
El Aissaoui A. & El Gharras O.
Agricultural Engineering Laboratory
INRA, PO Box 589, Settat 26000 Morocco
With the support of ICARDA and ACIAR

Settat, January, 20-26, 2014

 Specialized training course
“Pesticide Application and Best Practices Methods”
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
CRRA Settat, Morocco
20-24 January 2014-01-15
Program

1st day: Monday 20th January 2014

Time Activity Animators
8h30 to 9h30 Registration, Head of CRRA
9h00 to 9h30 Welcome and course opening Settat
9h30 to 10h30 Topic 1: Global approach of pesticide application El Aissaoui A.
10h30 to 11h00 Topic 2: Fundamental of hydraulic spraying systems
11h00 to 11h30 Break
11h30 to 12h30 Topic 3: Spraying equipments: constant and variable rate El Aissaoui A.
technologies
12h30 to 13h00 Topic 4: Approach and assessment of sprayer application errors
13h00 to 14h00 Lunch
14h00 to 16h30 Practice 1: Tractor-mounted sprayer components El Aissaoui A.
- Handling and comparison of hydraulic performance of El Gharras O.
sprayers pumps ( diaphragm, piston, centrifugal and roller Krimi A.
pumps) Cherkaoui K.
- Function and pressure setting of an air house of a diaphragm
pump
- Experimental computation and establishment of a model
curve of a hydraulic spray nozzle

2nd day: Tuesday 21th January 2014

Time Activity Animators
9h00 to 10h00 Topic 5: Nozzle technologies El Aissaoui A.
10h00 to 11h00 Topic 6: Management of factors inducing spray drift
11h00 to 11h30 Break
11h30 to 12h30 Topic 7: Adjuvant and chemical application efficacy El Aissaoui A.
12h30 to 13h00 Topic 8: Hand operated sprayer (problems, technology performance,
potential application errors)
13h00 to 14h00 Lunch
14h00 to 16h30 Practice 2: Preparation and calibration of the tractor-mounted sprayer El Aissaoui A.
: El Gharras O.
- Sprayer checking and hydraulic circuit control Krimi A.
- Evaluation of the operating speed Cherkaoui K.
- Calibration using the flow chart method

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3rd day: Wednesday 22nd January 2014
Time Activity Animators
9h00 to 10h00 Topic 9: Weed control strategies applied in no-till systems El Garras O.
(pre-emergence (PE), post-seeding pre-emergence (PSPE), and El Aissaoui A.
incorporation by seeding (IBS) application techniques) El Brahli A.
10h00 to 11h00 Topic 10: Performance application of herbicide in no-till system: Case Tanji A.
of glyphosate and paraquat application
11h00 to 11h30 Break
11h30 to 12h30 Topic 11: FAO guideline of minimal requirements for spraying El Aissaoui A.
equipments (Hand operated and tractor mounted equipments)
12h30 to 13h00 Topic 12: Control engineering solutions for the safe management and
handling of spraying equipments
13h00 to 14h00 Lunch
14h00 to 16h30 Practice 3: Evaluation of the effect of hard water quality on herbicide El Gharras O.
application efficacy: El Aissaoui A.
- PH measurement and evaluation of the water hardness, Krimi A.
- Computation of adjuvant amount (ammonium sulphate) Cherkaoui K.
needed to correct antagonism effect of a charged water on
glyphosate application efficacy.
4th day: Thursday 23th January 2014
Time Activity Animators
9h00 to 10h00 Topic 13: EU Directives and standards for Environmentally Optimized El Aissaoui A.
Sprayer (EOS)
10h00 to 11h00 Topic 14: EU Directives for voluntary and mandatory inspection of
spraying equipments
11h00 to 11h30 Break
11h30 to 12h30 Topic 15: Best practice methods for safe storage, handling, and El Aissaoui A.
applying of pesticides
12h30 to 13h00 Topic 16: Best practice methods for protecting environment and
avoiding contamination by pesticides
13h00 to 14h00 Lunch
14h00 to 16h30 Practice 4: Preparation and calibration of the hand operated sprayer: El Aissaoui A.
- Checking and control of hydraulic circuit, El Gharras O.
- Evaluation of the operator walking speed, Krimi A.
- Measure of the flow rate and the swath of flat, hollow cone Cherkaoui K.
and flood nozzles,
- Knapsack calibration using the flow chart method.

5th day: Friday 24th January 2014

Time Activity Animators
9h00 to 10h00 Topic 17: Spraying application efficacy of fungicides El Aissaoui A.
10h00 to 11h00 Topic 18: Moroccan R&D experience on developing adapted spraying
technologies for small scale farms
11h00 to 11h30 Break
11h30 to 12h30 Discussion of pesticide application in the North Africa region ( the Course group
countries cases of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia)
12h30 to 15h00 Friday prayer & lunch
15h00 to 16h30 Final discussion, course evaluation, distribution of attestations and Course group
course closing
6th day: Saturday 25th January 2014
8h00 to 16h00 Laboratory’s demonstrations and tests and closing ceremony Course group

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of figures .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 7

Multidisciplinary approach of pesticide application........................................................................................... 8

Distribution and transformation of PPP and adjuvants after application in the environment ............................. 9

Application process within balance of PPP biological efficacy ......................................................................... 9

Atomization of applied mixture ................................................................................................................... 10

Impaction of droplets ................................................................................................................................... 11

Retention of droplets ................................................................................................................................... 11

Deposition of droplets ................................................................................................................................. 12

Volatilization of chemical mixture from plant surface ................................................................................ 12

2. Approach for assessing application rate error of tractor mounted sprayer .................................................. 12

3. Control modes of application rate ................................................................................................................ 14

4. Spraying equipment technologies ................................................................................................................ 14

5. Spray nozzles patterns ................................................................................................................................. 15

6. Adapted nozzles for drift ............................................................................................................................. 16

7. Potential drift vs meteorological conditions ................................................................................................ 16

8. Adjuvant vs application efficacy ................................................................................................................. 18

9. Calibration of tractor mounted sprayer ........................................................................................................ 18

Synoptic of the calibration chart....................................................................................................................... 18

Flow rate chart (Standard ISO)......................................................................................................................... 19

10. Performance and calibration of knapsack sprayers ...................................................................................... 19

Technical problems of knapsack sprayer.......................................................................................................... 20

Lance spraying performance........................................................................................................................ 20

Stability of operating pressure and flow rate ............................................................................................... 20

Volume rate application and water use efficiency ....................................................................................... 21

Field working capacity ................................................................................................................................ 21

Operator safety and pollution ...................................................................................................................... 21

Some technical solutions for improving the safety in using knapsack sprayers .......................................... 21

Calibration of manual operated knapsack-sprayer ........................................................................................... 23

Calibration procedure ....................................................................................................................................... 23

Calibration chart of knapsack sprayer .............................................................................................................. 24

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 Adapted nozzle for knapsack sprayer ............................................................................................................... 24

11. Application efficacy of herbicide: case of glyphosate ................................................................................. 25

Barriers affecting glyphosate absorption .......................................................................................................... 25

Environmental conditions affecting retention and absorption of glyphosate ................................................... 25

Glyphosate formulations .................................................................................................................................. 26

Improvement of glyphosate application ........................................................................................................... 26

12. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 27

References ............................................................................................................................................................. 27

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Chemical control as a subset of IPM/ICM techniques integrating complementary plant protection
control programs (Matthews, 2000) ........................................................................................................................ 7

Figure 2: Interaction between the three main components of PPP, spraying technology, and operator knowledge
to output the targeted biological efficacy of applied active ingredient. .................................................................. 8

Figure 3: Multidisciplinary approach of pesticide application (Matthews, 2000) ................................................... 8

Figure 4: Distribution and transformation of applied PPP and adjuvant in the environment (Toshiyuki, 2008) .... 9

Figure 5 : Pesticide application balance including different processes implicated in the mixture atomization
leading to the final biological efficacy of an applied PPP (Matthews, 2000) ......................................................... 9

Figure 6: Factors and processes affecting droplet losses (GRDC, 2008) .............................................................. 10

Figure 7: Standardised droplet diameters classification (ASABE Standard 572) ................................................. 10

Figure 8: Droplet diameter versus impact number versus application rate (Johonstone, 1973). ........................... 11

Figure 9: Theoretical plant surface coverage obtained by spraying 1 L/ha with various droplets sizes in µm
(Matthews 2000). .................................................................................................................................................. 11

Figure 10: Effect of droplet size on deposition efficiency for different leaf morphologies (Smith et al., 2000)... 12

Figure 11: Control modes of spraying equipment technologies. ........................................................................... 14

Figure 12: Typical sprayer diagram including tank rinse and chemical filling device (Hardi equipment) ........... 14

Figure 13: Direct injection sprayer (Raven System). ............................................................................................ 15

Figure 14: Three main spray patterns: flat fan, flood, and hollow cone nozzles. .................................................. 15

Figure 15: Effect of low drift nozzles of reducing percentage of driftable small droplets below 103 µm for the
main used nozzles (four color code: green, yellow, blue, and red) (Hardi support).............................................. 16

Figure 16: Possible movement of airborne droplet in surface temperature inversion conditions (GRDC, 2011). 17

Figure 17: Management of spraying drift using delta T chart (GRDC, 2008) ...................................................... 17

Figure 18 : Adjuvant classes and pretended functions. ......................................................................................... 18

Figure 19: Measurement of tractor forward speed using half filled sprayer. ........................................................ 18

Figure 20: Flow rate chart of nozzles (standard ISO) ........................................................................................... 19

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Figure 21: Typical use conditions of knapsack sprayers by small farmers in developing countries. .................... 20

Figure 22 : Usage of back-lance for reducing potential dermal exposure of operator (Machado-Neto et al., 1998)
.............................................................................................................................................................................. 21

Figure 23: Rolling sprayer prototype used by a walking operator to apply post-emergence herbicide in no-till
wheat cropping system. ......................................................................................................................................... 22

Figure 24: Electrical rolling sprayer developed by INRA Morocco ..................................................................... 22

Figure 25: Parameters conditioning knapsack sprayer application ....................................................................... 23

Figure 26 : Hollow cone nozzle for use with hand operated sprayer. ................................................................... 24

Figure 27: Flood nozzle adapted for work at low pressure (1 bar) with hand operated sprayer (Hardi support). . 24

Figure 28: Cross section of leaf showing the four absorption barriers of epicuticular wax, ................................. 25

Figure 29: Photo-assimilation of glyphosate from leaf to the meristematic regions such as roots........................ 26

Figure 30 : Glyphosate parent acid added to potassium, di-ammonium or isopropylamine salt ........................... 26

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1. INTRODUCTION

According to FAO (1998), evaluation report of pesticide application techniques conducted in 17 countries of
West Africa showed that hand operated spraying equipments are the most used to apply Plant Protection Product
(PPP) in small scale farming. The study concluded that farmers lack knowledge and means to efficiently protect
their crops against pests. Problems of health and environmental hazards occur very frequently.

Small scale farmers in developing countries are facing serious problems of accurately and safely applying
pesticides using hand-operated sprayers. Pesticide overdosing and hazardous diffusion are very common to small
farms due to poor application efficiency. Accurate and timely applications of pesticides are of increasing
importance to integrate their use in IPM/ICM (Integrated Pest Management / Integrated Crop Management)
programs in order to minimize pollution.

Manual application methods are potentially risky during the spraying process. The risks during mixing chemical
ingredients, filling, and cleaning sprayers have been shown to encompass a significant impact on human health
and environmental pollution. In another study, most third world smallholder pesticide users are still using those
equipments that grossly contaminate themselves and the environment (Matthews and Friedrich, 2004).

The International Pesticide Application Research Center based in Imperial College at UK prepared a layout
policy on pesticides and their application for developing countries. The importance was given to the inevitability
of pesticide use by farmers and the role that policy makers could play for promoting research and extension
programs on Rational Pesticide Use (RPU) as a sub-set of IPM. The latter combines accurate diagnosis of pest
problems, selection of less hazardous pesticides and improved application to optimize dose transfer to the
biological target, reducing costs, residues, operators, and environment exposure (IPARC, 2004).

Figure 1: Chemical control as a subset of IPM/ICM techniques integrating complementary plant protection
control programs (Matthews, 2000)

The present document is compiled as a reference support to outline different topics treated in “Pesticides
application and best practice methods” training course. It focuses on aspects related to pesticide applications and
to the best practice methods that should be promoted in small farming systems in developing countries. The
problem contour in order to rationalize pesticide use to avoid risk exposure of operators and environmental
contamination is discussed.

The approach adopted consists in perceiving the thematic from the triangle edges related to operator expertise,
Plant Protection Products (PPP) quality, and spraying equipment performance. The spraying efficiency is
considered as a balance of the technical process entailing spray droplets generation, impaction, retention, deposit
formation, and translocation to finally yield the biological efficacy of an applied PPP.

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Figure 2: Interaction between the three main components of PPP, spraying technology, and operator knowledge
to output the targeted biological efficacy of applied active ingredient.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH OF PESTICIDE APPLICATION

Pesticide application is closely perceived not only by farmers but also by technicians as a simple operation done
by agricultural sprayer in order to apply PPP at a given technical application rate. Such perception leads to limit
the process of application at the calibration of spraying equipment for carrying out the expected rate of a certain
PPP or of a certain active ingredient. Independently of the performance and of the used spraying equipment, the
right calibration cannot be sufficient to improve the biological efficiency of the applied active ingredient without
a presence of some knowledge and certain expertise to efficiently manage all parameters related to the spraying
process. Drift, impaction, deposition, retention, and translocation in order to fully carry out the force given by
the potential of applied PPP, are the parameters to take into consideration.

Figure 3: Multidisciplinary approach of pesticide application (Matthews, 2000).

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DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSFORMATION OF PPP AND ADJUVANTS AFTER
APPLICATION IN THE ENVIRONMENT

Figure 4: Distribution and transformation of applied PPP and adjuvant in the environment (Toshiyuki, 2008)

APPLICATION PROCESS WITHIN BALANCE OF PPP BIOLOGICAL EFFICACY

Figure 5 : Pesticide application balance including different processes implicated in the mixture atomization
leading to the final biological efficacy of an applied PPP (Matthews, 2000)

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 Figure 6: Factors and processes affecting droplet losses (GRDC, 2008)

ATOMIZATION OF APPLIED MIXTURE

The atomization process consists of breaking-up of liquid by hydraulic nozzles to produce droplets of a given
size presented as a Volumetric Median Diameter (VMD) forming 50% of the applied volume. Droplet diameters
typically vary from less than 50 µm to more than 600 µm according to nozzle orifice and nozzle type and its set
operating pressure.

Figure 7: Standardised droplet diameters classification (ASABE Standard 572)

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IMPACTION OF DROPLETS
The impaction concerns the number of generated droplets that should impact the treated foliar surface.
According to contact or systemic modes of the applied PPP, the impact number can be optimally managed to be
of low or high density from less than 20 to 100 impacts/cm2.

Figure 8: Droplet diameter versus impact number versus application rate (Johonstone, 1973).

Theoretically, the plant surface coverage obtained by spraying evenly 1 L/ha with various droplets sizes can be
lower than 1 impact/cm2 to higher than 19000 impact/cm2 using respectively droplets of 400 and 10 µm,
respectively.

Figure 9: Theoretical plant surface coverage obtained by spraying 1 L/ha with various droplet sizes in µm
(Matthews 2000).

RETENTION OF DROPLETS
Leaf structures such as hairs, edges, veins, epicuticular wax are important variables that affect impingement and
retention of an applied mixture. Higher spray deposition on leaves likely results in more uptakes by plant and
less chemical is available for run-off and environmental contamination. Treatment efficiency can be evaluated
using macroscopic and microscopic approaches to investigate spray retention. According to Massinon et al.
(2013), the macroscopic approach is related to aspect of spray coarseness, carrier volume, leaf wettability, plant
architecture, crop density, and usage of adjuvant. The microscopic approach focuses on the drop impact dynamic
and investigates the interaction between liquid and leaf surface (wetting) at drop scale.

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DEPOSITION OF DROPLETS
Smith et al. (2000) stated that leaf morphology plays an important role on spraying deposition. The authors
studied the effect of droplet size on deposition efficiency and found that for four leaf morphologies the increase
in deposition depends on how droplet size is small. In fact, big droplets are subjected to bounce and to run-off.
Other studies showed that if the droplet size specter of a given applied mixture is changed from 100 to 500 µm,
the active ingredient requires an increase of six times to achieve equal stem curvature using 2,4-D (McKinlay et
al., 1972).

Figure 10: Effect of droplet size on deposition efficiency for different leaf morphologies (Smith et al., 2000).

VOLATILIZATION OF CHEMICAL MIXTURE FROM PLANT SURFACE

The volatilization process of a pesticide from the plant surface depends on physicochemical properties of the
applied formulations, the leaf properties and certain number of environmental factors such as temperature, wind
speed, relative humidity, etc. According to different studies, most used formulations penetrate poorly into the
epicuticular wax of the plant leaf independently of the systemic mode of the active ingredient and of the effect of
added adjuvant to improve deposition and adsorption of droplets on wax layer and cuticle. The phenomena of
developing wax and cuticle can be a characteristic of several plants in arid environment to attenuate the effect of
hydric stress and/or drought. Crop characteristics are known to have effect on volatilization through height,
shape (deposition and wash-off) and wax layer (adsorption).

2. APPROACH FOR ASSESSING APPLICATION RATE ERROR OF TRACTOR

MOUNTED SPRAYER

Application error of spraying system is generally presented as an average value or as the percentage of
application exceeding the tolerable application rate within the range of 5%. Evaluation of application technology
leads to quantifying error in chemical application and to approach its performances according to the change of
the working speed in agricultural field.

The study of an example of a spraying boom system inaccuracy due to speed change can be done by assuming
application of a chemical at a Technical Application Rate of reference (TAR) and actual application rate at any
time “t” (TAR (t)). The error associated with the application is described as:

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 TAR(t )  TAR
e
TAR (1)

The TAR can be expressed as:

k *Q *C
TAR 
Ns *V (2)

Where k is a constant, Q is the nozzle flow rate, C is the concentration at the nozzle, N s is the nozzle spacing,
and V is the ground speed.

The TAR has to be maintained constant independently of the ground speed variation; the concentration must be a
function of time, assuming that ground speed is a variable function of time. Thus, solving for C in equation 2 and
specifying concentration as a function of time:

Ns * V (tc ) * TAR
C (tc ) 
k *Q (3)

Where tc is the lapsed time used to calculate a specific concentration.

The assessment of application error is applicable if ground speed varies and the application system is not
instantaneous in adjusting the applied concentration of a chemical.

The TAR as a function of time is as follow:

k * Q * C (tc )
TAR(t )  (4)
Ns *V (t )

The substitution can be done in the error term above to develop an error as a function of time, as shown in
equation 5:

k * Q * C (tc )
 TAR
Ns * V (t )
e
TAR (5)

By assuming that the constant flow regulator is set to maintain a constant TAR for a constant operating speed,
and that speed is potentially subject to variation according to the field morphology and/or driving behavior of
tractor. The expression for concentration as a function of time can be substituted into the error term to yield:

k * Q * TAR * Ns * V (tc )
 TAR
k * Q * Ns * V (t )
e(t ) 
TAR (6)

The equation 6 is reduced to:

V (t c )
e(t )  1
V (t ) (7)

Equation 7 describes the fractional error of an application at any time t. The consideration of a perfect chemical
application by carrying out instantaneous change in chemical concentration at the nozzle level for any change in

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ground speed requires that the speed upon which the concentration is based is identically equal to the current
ground speed then the error at any time t is zero.

3. CONTROL MODES OF APPLICATION RATE

The spraying equipments are typically classified into two control modes of constant and variable rate
applications. The first mode is the conventional one based on setting the constant pressure for a constant flow
rate. Such method has the constraint of keeping the working speed constant all time while working in the field.
Such condition cannot be realized according to the variability of the field topography and presence of slopes.
The potential application error is due to the potential change in working speed. The conventional mode is
improved by varying the flow rate proportionally to the working speed within a limit of the nozzle flow rate
range.

The second mode is the variable rate technology based on separation of chemical and carrier. Both chemical and
carrier flow rates or only chemical flow rate can be managed by electronic controller to vary proportionally to
the working speed for carrying out total flow control or constant carrier flow control, respectively.

Figure 11: Control modes of spraying equipment technologies.

4. SPRAYING EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGIES

Figure 12: Typical sprayer diagram including tank rinse and chemical filling device (Hardi equipment)

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 Figure 13: Direct injection sprayer (Raven System).

5. SPRAY NOZZLES PATTERNS

There are mainly three types of patterns produced by flat fan, flood, and hollow cone nozzles. The flat fan nozzle
presents a normal distribution as a triangular spray pattern where most of the spray is deposited in the center.
The nozzle spacing on the boom is based on the overlapping of the individual sprays to satisfy spray uniformity
across the boom.

The flood nozzle carries out a wide angled flat pattern and operates at low pressure of 1 to 2 bars. It produces a
coarse and even spray that is ideally used with hand operated sprayer or mounted on tillage equipment for
application of pre-emergence herbicide.

The hollow cone nozzle produces a hollow circular footprint and adapted for use with air-assisted or
conventional sprayer when good coverage in dense canopies is required

Figure 14: Three main spray patterns: flat fan, flood, and hollow cone nozzles.

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6. ADAPTED NOZZLES FOR DRIFT

Driftable spray contains small droplets that can be carried away by wind from the intended target area to
contaminate the environment as diffuse source. It has been shown that up to 20% of pesticide is contained in
droplets less than 100 µm. Low drift nozzles are developed with a dual orifice nozzle to generate larger droplets
even at standard spray pressure.

The variables affecting the amount of pesticide drift from hydraulic nozzles are:

 Droplet size
 Droplet weight
 Spray pressure
 Evaporation rate
 Air movement
 Temperature and Relative Humidity

For minimizing spray drift, some technical advices are needed:

 Avoid spraying when there is strong wind (> 10 m/s)

 Use large orifice nozzle at relatively low pressure
 Use nozzles that do not produce small droplets
 Adjust boom height as low as practical
 Do not spray at high travel speeds
 Spray when soil is coolest and relative humidity is highest
 Use non volatile pesticides
 Use drift control additives when permitted by pesticide label

Figure 15: Effect of low drift nozzles of reducing percentage of driftable small droplets below 103 µm for the
main used nozzles (four color code: green, yellow, blue, and red) (Hardi support).

7. POTENTIAL DRIFT VS METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS

When spray is applied during the first light of day (dawn) or during the time of day immediately following
sunset (dusk) or at night, the phenomena of surface temperature inversion can potentially affect the spraying
process causing drift of small droplets ( diameter less than 100 µm).

During surface temperature inversion, air near the ground lacks turbulence and leads to the remaining of airborne
pesticides at high concentrations in the air near the surface. The direction and distance where pesticide can move
in the air, close to the ground, cannot be easily predicted when surfaces inversion exists.

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 Figure 16: Possible movement of airborne droplet in surface temperature inversion conditions (GRDC, 2011).

Figure 17: Management of spraying drift using delta T chart (GRDC, 2008)

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8. ADJUVANT VS APPLICATION EFFICACY

Adjuvant is a substance without any significant pesticide properties that is added to a PPP mixture for improving
its effectiveness during and/or after application.

Figure 18 : Adjuvant classes and pretended functions.

9. CALIBRATION OF TRACTOR MOUNTED SPRAYER

Development of a simple method for calibrating sprayers is of importance not only for farmers but also for
extensionists. Elaboration of simple chart to set the volume rate applied by a sprayer boom helps to avoid using
any mathematical equation as done in classical calibration method. The calibration chart constitutes a practical
simple and rapid method to regularly control applied volume rate of the sprayer without time and energy waste.
It can be useful for extension to illiterate farmers lacking of calculation ability.

SYNOPTIC OF THE CALIBRATION CHART

 Select the right speed gear and the right level position of the hand accelerator of the tractor to adapt
constantly working speed in the treated field 
 Chronometer the time needed to spray a linear distance of 100 m using the tractor-mounted sprayer with
a half tank capacity 

Figure 19: Measurement of tractor forward speed using half filled sprayer.

 Evaluate the forward speed (where speed; V = distance/time (m/s)) ; (1 m/s equal 3,6 km/hr, 2 m/s
equal 7,2 km/hr and 3 m/s equal 10,8 km/hr)

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  Use the nozzle flow rate chart to choose the volume rate (L/ha) for application 
 Verify the color of used nozzle (standard ISO) 
 Choose the right hydraulic pressure (bar) according to the volume rate chosen (L/ha) and the working
speed measured (Km/h)
 Finally, evaluate the mean flow rate of three nozzles along the boom (in the center and in both sides)
serves for comparing it with the flow rate given by the chart 

If the comparison between measured and the chart given flow rates shows a big difference (more than 10%), the
pressure gauge indication should be verified. If it is not the source of the problem, then the nozzles are in
advanced stage of intolerable wear and should be changed.

FLOW RATE CHART (STANDARD ISO)

Evaluation of the nozzle flow rate is based on its color code as shown below in the chart. The nozzle flow rate
standardization by ISO is of importance to precisely have an idea about its referenced flow rate without doing
any measurement (the information nozzle ISO 11002 of yellow color code gives two informations: Spray angle=
110° and flow rate= 0.2 GPM or 0.8 L/min at 3 bars). Usage of the chart avoids the use of any calculation
procedure to calibrate sprayers and measurement of the flow rate serves only to check periodically performance
of used nozzles after a given period of work.

Figure 20: Flow rate chart of nozzles (standard ISO)

10. PERFORMANCE AND CALIBRATION OF KNAPSACK SPRAYERS

Portable spraying equipments are widely used in small scale farming. Field prospection and diagnostics showed
existence of serious problems due to use of the knapsack sprayers. The inefficiency of chemical application
realized with them raises health and environmental risks. The characterization of the technical constraints
limiting spraying performance and pesticide safety application in small scale farming is undertaken to help and
propose some simple and low cost engineering solutions. Technical and economical acceptability by small
farmers is to be studied.

Small farmers practically apply chemical by knapsack sprayers due to their affordability as the first criteria and
also their apparent simplicity. Such type of sprayers have low efficiency and low metering accuracy due to the
design of lance and pump, the low field capacity, and the inability to apply reduced volume rates. There is also a
high potential of human contamination and environment pollution.

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TECHNICAL PROBLEMS OF KNAPSACK SPRAYER

The poor efficiency of pesticide application by knapsack is specifically due to the technical problems of lance,
pressure and flow fluctuations, low water use efficiency and high volume rate, low working capacity and high
risk of contaminations.

LANCE SPRAYING PERFORMANCE

Portable sprayers are equipped with a lance of simple (or multiple) nozzle(s) that cannot be efficient as an
operator cannot constantly maintain it in the same position. Spatial deposition of chemical mixture applied by the
lance cannot be constantly uniform as there is considerable influence of variable working speed of the operator
and difficulty to maintaining nozzle(s) jet in constant height. Furthermore, the operator’s behavior to laterally
displace the lance in zigzag for covering large width contributes to amplifying considerably lateral and
longitudinal application errors. As a part of the solution to poor spraying field capacity, small farmers practically
try to use a lance of multi tip nozzles (four nozzles) for improving field capacity of portable sprayers. However,
the pump of portable sprayers and the pumping performance of the user cannot achieve the required pressure in
order to satisfy operating pressure for multi nozzles boom.

Figure 21: Typical use conditions of knapsack sprayers by small farmers in developing countries.
(Picture from the Chaouia region, Morocco) Photo El Aissaoui A.

STABILITY OF OPERATING PRESSURE AND FLOW RATE

Hand sprayer operator cannot maintain a uniform pressure cadence due to the potential of pumping fluctuations.
In fact, the operating pressure of the sprayer depends on energy capacitance and behavior of worker to
continuously maintain constant pumping cadence during the spraying condition.

All spraying parameters should be constantly maintained to apply uniform chemical rate by hand operated
sprayer. The parameters such as working speed, level position of lance, and boom working width are influenced
by operator behavior. Furthermore, nozzle operating pressure, uniformity and spraying width of nozzle are
influenced by the pumping performance of the portable sprayer and its varying cadence.

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VOLUME RATE APPLICAT ION AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY
Hand operated sprayers are recommended for applying high volume rate, around 200 L/ha and cannot adequately
perform under reduced volume rate, less than 100 L/ha due to its low pump pressuring potential. It cannot be
powerful to breaking up liquid for efficiently applying reduced volume rate around 100 L/ha. This matter is a
key component for water use efficiency in spraying chemical within water scarce areas in a dry land context.

FIELD WORKING CAPACITY

Working capacity of portable sprayers is low due to the time required for preparing chemical mixture, refilling
tanks, and spraying operation. The spraying experience in arid land context of Morocco showed that working
capacity of portable sprayer cannot be more than one labor-hectare per day (1 ha/day).

OPERATOR SAFETY AND POLLUTION

Use of portable sprayers is a risky source for operator contamination and environmental pollution. The
experiences in small farming systems context of developing countries showed that the critical situations of
pesticide applications by portable sprayers due to lack of safety measures, material performance and operator
awareness (Matthews et al., 2004).

SOME TECHNICAL SOLUT IONS FOR IMPROVING THE SAFETY IN USING

KNAPSACK SPRAYERS
Evaluation of the safety during mixing/loading and application of paraquat on maize crop by knapsack sprayers
is done to determine the efficacy of safety measures applied to the sprayers (Machado-Neto et al., 1998). They
evaluated Potential Dermal Exposure (PDE) in 22 worker body parts using Cu2+ cation of a copper-based
fungicide as tracer in the spray solution. They found that paraquat application in front of the applicator’s body
(0.5 and 1.0 m lance) is unsafe and control of PDE can be improved by the use of protective garment on the legs
and feet only, which received 92–93% of the PDE. They found also that switching the spray nozzle to the back
of the operator reinforces working conditions safety and reduces the PDE by 98%.

Figure 22 : Usage of back-lance for reducing potential dermal exposure of operator (Machado-Neto et al., 1998)

A Closed Transfer System (CTS) based on a venturi injector for hand operated sprayer is developed to limit the
contact of operator with pesticide concentrate contained in a bag inside a leak proof bottle screwing into the
lance of the sprayer (Craig et al., 1993). The concentrate is injected into the lance where it is mixed with water
pumped from the tank. The test of the CTS for different formulation viscosities showed a consistent dilution
rates between 0.5 and 10% for an overall flow rates between 0.5 and 2 L/min.

Awadhwal et al. (1993) designed and tested CTS suitable for use with knapsack sprayers. They found that use of
the CTS resulted in significantly lower (P<0.05) operator exposure (15.95 µL) compared with the exposure

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resulting from the mixing and pouring method (42.65 µL) as well as the splash from pouring chemical directly
into the sprayer tank (72.55 µL). They noted also that integration of CTS to knapsack sprayer reduces the
frequency of handling concentrated chemicals from the usual 8 to 12 times per day to only once or twice a day,
which considerably reduced operator contamination.

In Morocco, Up to 80% of small farmers use knapsack sprayers for applying PPP. As a R&D activity of the
agricultural engineering laboratory of INRA Morocco, some rolling sprayer prototypes are developed to
contribute to solving the pre-cited problems and reducing the risk related to unsafe use of PPP application by
manually operated sprayers.

Figure 23: Rolling sprayer prototype used by a walking operator to apply post-emergence herbicide in no-till
wheat cropping system.

Figure 24: Electrical rolling sprayer developed by INRA Morocco.

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CALIBRATION OF MANUAL OPERATED KNAPSACK-SPRAYER

The calibration of manually operated sprayer is an important part of the spraying operation to accurately apply
PPP at the specified rate mentioned in the product label. There are mainly three scenarios due to failure of
calibrating adequately the sprayer and to lack of precaution to maintain steady state conditions (constant walking
speed, constant boom height and swath, and constant operating pressure) for uniform volume application rate in
the field:

 Too much chemical application is economically expensive and leads to waste and
environmental problems of residues and contamination of soil and water.
 Too little application means inefficacy of pest or weed control that is economically consuming
of time and energy in re-treating the crops for acceptable biological efficacy. Under-dosing
leads also to rapidly develop pest or weed resistance.
 Disposal of left-over spray liquid and exposure risk to human and environment.

CALIBRATION PROCEDURE

The calibration aims to set the knapsack sprayer for applying the correct amount of the spray mixture to a given
area of crop or land as a number of liters per hectare (L/ha). It depends on the following variables:

 The concentration of PPP in water or dilution rate (usually measured in g/L or ml/L
 The nozzle(s) flow rate measured in mL/min
 The effective spray width in meter (it depend on spray angle and lance or boom height above
the target)
 The walking speed of the operator measured in m/s ( 1 m/s= 3,6 km/hr)
 And the total area to be sprayed

Although the above factors can be considered for calibrating a portable sprayer, it cannot be easy to spatially and
temporally carry out a constant application in the field according to the variability that can occur in the walking
speed, the operating pressure and the treated width. This variability is typical of manually operated sprayer
according to operator behavior that potentially changes the walking and the pumping cadences along the
spraying period in the day.

Figure 25: Parameters conditioning knapsack sprayer application

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CALIBRATION CHART OF KNAPSACK SPRAYER

ADAPTED NOZZLE FOR KNAPSACK SPRAYER

Figure 26 : Hollow cone nozzle for use with hand operated sprayer.

Figure 27: Flood nozzle adapted for work at low pressure (1 bar) with hand operated sprayer (Hardi support).

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11. APPLICATION EFFICACY OF HERBICIDE: CASE OF GLYPHOSATE

Glyphosate is widely used to control weeds in zero tillage systems according to its large herbicidal spectrum and
efficacy. However, the efficacy is conditioned by the application timing effects and interactions with
environmental conditions and spraying practices. In fact, the optimal timing of glyphosate application can vary
with weather, weed population and density, and crop management practices. Factors such as temperature, soil
moisture, wind speed, and humidity play an important role in improving or affecting the glyphosate application
through the occurring processes of deposition, absorption and translocation. Otherwise, the use of an optimal rate
of glyphosate and of adapted adjuvant can be of importance to optimize the product efficacy according to the
specificity of the formulation used (among the three commercialized formulations) and to the quality of the
carrier water.

BARRIERS AFFECTING GLYPHOSATE ABSORPTION

Glyphosate like other herbicides needs to be efficiently deposed and retained by leafs for optimal absorption.
The product droplets retention depends on weed canopy surface contact and time for the occurring of absorption.
Weeds present several barriers that limit the absorption process. Roughness of leaf surfaces of many weed
species can physically limit contact between the surfaces and the droplets carrying the active ingredient.
Furthermore, the leaf surfaces consist of an uneven epicuticular wax that reduces contact with droplets by
inducing low contact angle and high surface tension. The waxes are non polar and lipophilic substances that limit
diffusion of polar herbicides like glyphosate.

Figure 28: Cross section of leaf showing the four absorption barriers of epicuticular wax,

cuticle, cell wall, and plasma membrane (source: University of Nebraska, USA).

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDIT IONS AFFECTING RETENTION AND ABSORPTION

OF GLYPHOSATE

The foliar absorption of herbicides occurs only in a liquid phase. However, conditions of low humidity and high
wind are not advantageous as the drying of the spray droplets is induced and therefore the absorption is reduced.
The occurring of rainfall within half hour after glyphosate application can induce the wash of sprayed droplets if
there isn’t any use of adjuvant to improve retention and to avoid run-off.

The conditions such as temperature, soil moisture and solar radiation that optimize plant growth facilitate
absorption and translocation of glyphosate as it can be loaded into the phloem through the photo-assimilation
process when the photosynthetic rates are high.

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 Figure 29: Photo-assimilation of glyphosate from leaf to the meristematic regions such as roots

Otherwise, drought and cold reduce glyphosate effectiveness as plants tend to conserve existing water by
thickening the epicuticular wax and closing stomata. The thicker wax limits glyphosate movement because
waxes are lipophilic and not compatible with the formulations based on water-soluble hydrophilic molecules.

It is shown that certain broadleaf weeds orient their leaves more vertically when stresses occur. Such position
decreases droplet retention time on leaf and then affect herbicide efficacy. Cold stress increases also tolerance to
glyphosate by weeds but not like drought.

GLYPHOSATE FORMULATIONS

Glyphosate is weak acid (N-phosphonomethyl) glycine which is the parent acid formulated as isopropylamine,
ammonium or potassium salt. The three salts are stable and having a good spray tank mix and foliar absorption.
The parent acid or acid equivalent should be used to determine the right product rate.

Figure 30 : Glyphosate parent acid added to potassium, di-ammonium or isopropylamine salt

IMPROVEMENT OF GLYPHOSATE APPLICATION

Usage of a non-ionic surfactant and ammonium sulphate is of importance to maximize the efficacy of the applied
glyphosate. Some glyphosate formulations are commercialized with included surfactants, defoamers, and drift
retardants to complete the product label. The fully loaded product doesn’t require addition of non-ionic
surfactants as can be shown in the label. Generally, the active ingredient is formulated at least 80% of volume
with a 0.25% of non-ionic surfactants.

The non-ionic surfactants are added to reduce the surface tension and the leaf contact angle for maximizing
retention and absorption of the applied mixture to target the maximum of biological efficacy.

Usage of ammonium sulphate is of importance to attenuate the antagonism effect of hard water on glyphosate.
Water is considered ‘hard’ when it contains various salts such as Ca 2+, Na+, Fe2+, and Zn2+. Some of these salts
are abundant in water sources of many rural areas to bind with glyphosate and reduce its solubility, absorption
and performance. The sulfate ammonium is added at a rate of 1 to 2 kg/100L of hard water to bind with the salts
to precipitate them out of the solution and reduce the antagonistic effect.

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The application volume of glyphosate is recommended to be within the minimum range of 30 to 50 L/ha. In fact,
research indicates that glyphosate performance improves with decreasing spray volume rates as low as 25 L/ha.
Reduced spray volume decreases antagonism with hard water while increase concentration per droplet. As the
foliar applied herbicides move by simple diffusion, the high concentration gradient improves absorption.
However, ultra low carrier volume may provide insufficient spray coverage in dense weed/crop canopies.
Furthermore, the adapted nozzle sizes for ultra low volumes are potentially subjected to plugging. The carrier
volumes around 100 L/ha are probably adapted for a diversity of field conditions with sufficient performance.

12. CONCLUSION

Plant Protection Product (PPP) application is a complex process that needs important technical expertise for
yielding the biological efficacy of an applied active ingredient. The situation of pesticide use and application is
very inefficient in North Africa. Consistent efforts should be focused on the upstream and downstream levels to
correct the misapplication problems and to protect human and environment against the related potential risk.
Furthermore, technical and institutional upgrading should be undertaken in parallel scheme to speed up
improvement in pesticide application.

REFERENCES

Albuz (2009) Technologies des buses,

Awadhwal N. K., Quick G. R., and Cabrido E. F (1993) Closed chemical transfer for knapsack sprayers.
Transactions of ASABE, Vol. 9(1):1993

Craig I. P., Matthews G. A.,and Thornhill E. W. (1993) Fluid injection metering system for closed pesticide
delivery in manually operated sprayers. Crop Protection, Volume 12, Issue 7, November 1993, Pages 549-553.

FAO, (1998) Pesticide Application Techniques in West Africa.

GRDC fact sheet (2008) Spray drift.

GRDC fact sheet (2011) Surface temperature inversions and spraying.

Hardi (2011) Nozzle product guide

IPARC (2004) A policy on pesticides and their application in developing countries

Machado-Neto J. G., Matuo T., and Matuo Y. K. (1998) Efficiency of safety measures applied to a manual
knapsack sprayer for paraquat application to maize (Zea mays L.). Archives of Environmental Contamination
and Toxicology. 35, 698–701.

Massinon M., Lebeau F. (2013) Review of physicochemical process involved in agrochemical retention, BASE
journal, 17(3), 494-504.

Matthews, (2000) Pesticide application methods; 450 p, ISBN 0632054735, Blackwell sciences (3 rd ed.).

Matthews G.A., Friedrich T. (2004) Sprayer quality in developing countries. International Pest Control. 254-258.

Rapid Spray fact sheet (xxxx) spraying information and calibration procedures.

Teejet (2012) Spraying nozzles catalogue

Toshiyaki, (2008) Surfactant effects on environmental behviour of pesticides, Review of environmental

contamination and toxicology, Springer Edts.

USDA, 2006. Study on backpack sprayer’s use in small organic farms. Project report.

Toshiyaki, (2008), Surfactant effects on environmental behaviour of pesticides, Review of Environmental

Contamination and Toxicology, Springer Edts.

USDA (2006) Study on backpack sprayer’s use in small organic farms. Project report.

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