Reducing environmental exposure to PPPs in super-high density olive orchards using UAV sprayers.

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Precision Agriculture

Background:

• Optimizing agricultural resources necessitates advanced technologies like precision farming.
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sprayers offer potential for targeted application in woody crops.
• Limited knowledge on environmental risks and regulations hinders UAV sprayer adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare airborne drift, soil, and crop deposition of UAV sprayers versus conventional orchard sprayers.
• To assess the environmental risk mitigation potential of UAV sprayers in Mediterranean agriculture.
• To evaluate UAV sprayer efficacy in superhigh-density olive orchards.

Main Methods:

• Comparative field study in a superhigh-density olive orchard (South Iberian Peninsula, 2022).
• Measured airborne drift, soil deposition, and crop deposition for both UAV and conventional sprayers.
• Analyzed data to determine significant differences in deposition patterns.

Main Results:

• UAV sprayers showed substantial reduction in airborne drift.
• No significant differences in soil deposition were observed between UAV and conventional sprayers.
• Crop depositions were significantly lower with the UAV sprayer.

Conclusions:

• UAV spraying technology can effectively reduce the environmental impact of crop spraying in specific agricultural scenarios.
• The findings support the responsible use of plant protection products (PPPs) in Mediterranean farming systems.
• UAV sprayers demonstrate potential for drift mitigation in hedgerow crops due to downwash airflow and limited swath width.