Article Dans Une Revue Journal of Scientific Research and Reports Année : 2025

Sustainable Spray Technology: A Battery Powered Shielded Sprayer for Chilly Crop for Drift Reduction

Résumé

The study tackles low mechanization and pesticide drift in India’s small‐scale farming by designing, evaluating, and conducting a cost analysis of a battery‑powered, shielded inter‑row sprayer to improve pest control efficiency and minimize environmental impact. It was designed with a DC motor, Li-ion battery, nozzle-equipped adjustable boom, and shield to minimize drift. The sprayer uses interchangeable nozzles (hollow cone, flat fan) with a discharge rate of 900–1000 ml/min and a spray angle of 70–80. Powered by a 0.5 hp DC motor and guided by an Atmega16 controller, it includes rubber wheels and shielded nozzles for precise, drift-free spraying in chilly crop. Performance evaluation included laboratory tests per IS standards and field trials on 54 plots using different speeds, nozzle types, and heights. Spray parameters like droplet density, Volume Median Diameter (VMD), Number Median Diameter (NMD), Homogeneity Factor (HF), spray deposition, application rate, effective field capacity, field efficiency and ergonomic parameters like heart rate and comfort rating were analyzed for chilly crop. Field experiments indicated that droplet density decreased as with increase in spray height and increase in forward speed for changes nozzle type. Maximum droplet density was found at hollow cone nozzle, 0.4 m/s forward speed and 0.4 m height of nozzle (57.47 no./cm²) for chilly crop. Most uniform droplet size was found at hollow cone nozzle,0.7m/s forward speed and 0.4 height of nozzle as HF was closer to one (1.58), for chilly crop. The highest total deposition was observed in N1S2H2 (85.17%), while the lowest was found in N1S3H1 (82.44%). The maximum EFC was observed in N1S3H3 (0.328 ha/h), indicating higher speed improves field coverage efficiency, while the highest field efficiency was recorded in N2S1H1 (67.28%) and the lowest in N2S3H2 (51.34%). Heart rate increased with increased forward speeds, while the comfort rating was highest at low forward speed. Plant damage was highest (4.30%) in N1S2H1, with no damage in N1S1H3, showing that optimized sprayer settings reduce plant damage. The developed sprayer significantly reduced time, covering one hectare in only 4.40 hours compared to 11.62 hours with a battery-operated manual knapsack sprayer. This research provides compact design, effective field performance, and ergonomic operation make it ideal for improving weed and pest control in row crops like chilly.

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Dates et versions

hal-05100339 , version 1 (06-06-2025)

Identifiants

Citer

Godhani R.S., Gupta P., Dabhi K.L., Seth N., Salunkhe R.C., et al.. Sustainable Spray Technology: A Battery Powered Shielded Sprayer for Chilly Crop for Drift Reduction. Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, 2025, 31 (6), pp.422-433. ⟨10.9734/jsrr/2025/v31i63140⟩. ⟨hal-05100339⟩

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