The Influence of Newly Developed Spray Drift Reduction Agents on Drift Mitigation by Means of Wind Tunnel and Field Evaluation Methods

Pesticide spray drift has been a worldwide concern in terms of potential environmental pollution and ecosystem damage. This study defined the main drift reduction agent (DRA) characteristics that help to understand the drift formation process in agricultural spraying. Seven various DRAs and water were evaluated. Three solutions were created based on the following materials: calcium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, benzenesulfonic acid, C10-13-alkyl derivatives, and calcium salt. Drift measurements were performed by means of the open circuit-type wind tunnel and in the field under conditionally controlled conditions. Air-injector flat spray nozzles and standard flat spray nozzles were used during trials. The spray pressure was 4.0 bar. Solutions were sprayed at different wind speeds (from 2 m s −1 to 10 m s −1 , increasing every 2 m s −1 ). Studies have shown that wind speed and nozzle design have the greatest influence on spray drift. For all DRA solutions studied, the standard flat spray nozzles resulted in ground spray drift, both in the wind tunnel and in the field, which was about two times higher than that of air-injector flat spray nozzles. The spraying of water and all DRA solutions with the air-injector flat spray nozzle showed that all new solutions statistically significantly reduced the drift both in the tunnel and in the field. Ground-drift studies in the wind tunnel showed a trend towards a less intense drift reduction in DRA droplets with increasing wind speed. With DRA7e, the drift can be reduced by up to 56% (at a wind speed of 4 m s −1 ) and up to 30% (at 10 m s −1 ). The effect of the solutions on the reduction in spray drift is significantly lower when spraying with standard flat spray nozzles. Spray drift can then be reduced by up to 30% (at a wind speed of 4 m s −1 ) and up to 12% (at 10 m s −1 ) for DRA7e.