Agro Perspectiva

New system for the underleaf-spraying of vegetable crops

11.03.2010 12:25 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — "DroplegUL" is a system for the under-leaf spraying of vegetable and field crops. «DroplegUL» has been introduced to the market in 2010 as part of a sales cooperation between Amazone, Lechler, and Syngenta. The system has been developed in light of specific problems in field and vegetable crops such as, for example, in dwarf beans and onions where spraying from «on top» cannot achieve the desired results and even air assisted technology does not ensure sufficient coverage. Some years ago, Jacob Rüegg from the Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil research institute in Switzerland took up the original idea of the Dropleg and developed it further, investigating its effect together with Franz Kuhn, crop protection specialist from Dintikon in the Aaargau canton. In Germany, since 2006, Syngenta Agro has been deeply involved with the operation of Dropleg systems in various crops where, up until now, using normal application technology no sufficient efficacy could be achieved. "In our series of trials we clearly achieved better results in crops where hidden plant parasites or viruses were, to date, either controlled insufficiently or not at all ", explains Dr. Hans-Günter Welches, Syngenta consultant. Lechler GmbH from Metzingen, manufacturer of agricultural nozzles and crop protection options, now takes over production having made essential alterations which make the system easier, more user friendlier and more economically viable. The lightweight, yet robust DroplegUL design consists of plastic drag hoses onto which at their tip — depending on the treatment required — different nozzles are fitted on one or both sides into a TwinSpray cap for under-leaf spraying. The DroplegUL tubes can swing freely diagonally to the rows and DroplegUL can be infinitely set to any row spacing utilising the special Amazone carriers. Sales of the DroplegUL are handled directly by LechlerGmbH. At the same time Amazone offers, for their Q-plus and Super-S booms, special aluminium spray line carriers from 12 up to 28 metres. The group for application technology of Syngenta Crop Protection AG has taken over the crop protection consultation. The required equipment for a 24 m boom fitted with 30 Droplegs at a row spacing of 80 cm costs approximately 3,500 Euros. With regard to the benefits, this investment quickly pays off with numerous tests proving that the new system can double the biological effect of crop protection agents. The agents are thus exploited more effectively and, due to the expansion of spraying programmes, operational economic benefits are also possible.