A MIT researcher team has developed a system that helps to stick to the leaves of the plant to the agricultural sprays by reducing polluting leakage and reducing farmers.
According to the Mit News report, agricultural spraying includes mixing water with chemicals and droplets on plant leaves, which are by nature rejected in water.
After trying various methods for optimizing the supply of pesticides and other sprays, the team completed the water droplets with a small amount of oil to help them stick to the leaves.
“Basically, this oil film acts as a way to catch that drop on the surface, because the oil is very attracted to the surface and seems to be holding water on the spot,” said Simon Rufer, a MIT graduate and co-author of the research on the subject.
During the initial tests, researchers used soybean oil, realizing that this substance would be known to farmers, many of whom grow soybeans, explained the report.
However, soybean oil was not part of the conventional supply chains, so they found that several chemicals they already use could be used equally.
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“In this way, we do not introduce a new chemical or have changed in their field, but they use things they knew for a long time,” said MIT professor Kripa Vararanai.
The use of pesticides has been constantly increasing worldwide, increasing by 20% over the last decade and up to 153% in low -income countries.
The use of this and other types of sprays is almost 1.2 billion acres of agricultural land in the US increases in both quantities and in terms of costs. About half a million tonnes of pesticides, 12 million tonnes of nitrogen and four million tons of phosphorus fertilizers are used for crops across the country.
Using a new system that is commercialized by researchers’ Spinoff Agzen, farmers can reduce the amount of spray they need to be used in the crop.
“You can repay a billion dollars for US growers if you save 6 percent of their pesticide budget,” said Vishnu Jayaprakash, the main author of the investigative document and the CEO of Agzen. “In the laboratory we received 300 percent of the additional product factory. So that means we can reduce the size of the pesticides that farmers are spraying.”
This adhesive effect also helps to reduce agricultural leakage – the main cause of water quality deterioration in rivers and streams. It also helps reduce soil erosion, nutrient loss and the spread of pesticides into our waterways.
The system called “Realcoverage” has already been deployed over 920,000 ares of agricultural land and various types of crops, saving farmers up to 50% of pesticide costs, the report explained.
The Realcoverage system requires a nozzle that fits the most spray equipment and provides real -time coverage data, using its side to make it accurately adjusted, even used.
“The knowledge we collect from each sheet, along with our competence between the science and fluid mechanics, gives us unparalleled insights on how chemicals are used and developed, and obviously we can give value throughout the agrochemical supply chain,” said Varanasi.
“Our mission is to use these technologies to ensure better results and reduce costs for the AG industry.”
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