Developments in spraying technology could offer growers the opportunity to maximise efficiency of their spraying operations while minimising the negative impact on the environment.

“That should be the goal. It is true for all of us,” said Jean-Christophe Rousseau from sprayer manufacturer Berthoud at a joint CAFRE/AFBI workshop held for apple growers last week at AFBI Loughgall.

The event included a demonstration of a standard Fructair trailed sprayer, and one fitted with an airline tower system designed to give improved targeting of spray onto crops.

According to Rousseau, the tower system will improve penetration and distribution of spray, while reducing spray losses. Ultimately, it means less spray could be used per hectare.

“It opens the door for further improvements – we could adjust fan speed and forward speed according to canopy width, which means less noise, less fuel, higher productivity, shortened spray operation and less drift,” he said.

The airline tower comes with deflectors which can be adjusted to the height of the fruit hedge.

The machine demonstrated last week was also fitted with TVI nozzles on one side which produce larger droplet sizes, less prone to drift. The principle is that these droplets are filled with air bubbles which then explode on contact with the plant.

“There is a big ongoing debate around droplet size,” said Rosseau. In general, the finer the droplet, the better the coverage and penetration. It is also easier to control finer droplets when using air-assisted sprayers, but there is increased risk of drift and evaporation.

“Perhaps the answer is to use TVI nozzles on the top of the tower sprayer to keep drift to a minimum,” suggested Roseau.

He also acknowledged that the tower sprayer is limited in application, being suitable only for fruit hedges of 2.4 to 4m in height. Standard axial fan sprayers remain the only solution for large volume trees.