- New Sprayer Technology
Adapted for Carrot Use
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- By Karen Gentry
Associate Editor
Michigan State University (MSU) agriculture engineers have adapted their new spray technology for use in carrots. This technology uses very small droplets and air to deliver the needed spray to the target canopy.
This sprayer technology requires less spray to control disease, cutting costs and fulfilling requirements for less pesticide residue, according to Gary VanEe, agricultural engineer at MSU.
VanEe and Richard Ledebuhr, another agriculture engineer, adapted the spray technology for carrots after the industry determined it needed to produce carrots with lower levels of chemical residue due to market demands. The sprayer is part of a three-year project on pest management and production of carrots funded by Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs).
“Usually growers have to spray additional plant protectant so as to deposit enough in the hard to reach areas in the plant canopy,” said VanEe. The new technology does a more uniform job of covering the canopy so less is needed to control disease, he said. This machine generates very small drops (120 microns compared to 200-300 microns in a standard nozzle) which are too small to throw, with a higher surface to weight ratio, according to VanEe. “These drops go wherever air puts them. This machine generates its own air. This air system pushes small drops into the canopy,” he said.
MSU developed the technology and licensed it to Proptec, a commercial manufacturer that makes the atomizer, available for sale to interested parties. The new sprayer technology enhances the effectiveness of many organic plant protectants such as the new class of insecticides like Spinosad and Confirm that are “not poisonous in the sense that OPs were,” with shorter residue life, said VanEe. These compounds are more effective when they’re uniformly applied when sprayed.
Mary Hausbeck, associate professor of botany and plant pathology, is leading the GREEEN funded studies on carrots in Michigan. “I get questions about spray technology and spray applications and it’s not my area of expertise,” said Hausbeck, who specializes in the disease components of several commodities.
A group representing all aspects of carrot production and marketing met at MSU several times before submitting the grant request to GREEEN entitled “Carrots for Michigan’s Future: Developing Expanded Markets and New Pest Management Approaches.” VanEe’s department received full funding in an effort to make sure the sprayer was built, according to Hausbeck. Disease management, marketing, weed management, entomology, sociology are other components of the carrot industry receiving funding, she said.
“The sprayer was built and showcased at a number of grower meetings. Growers are excited about what it can do. I was thrilled. We had some real interest in the sprayer right away,” Hausbeck said.
By working as a team, it is hoped that the carrot industry in Michigan will stay viable. “We’re interested in keeping the processors that we currently have in the state and we want to make carrot growing more profitable,” she said.
GREEEN dollars have been used as leverage to go after more funding for research for the carrot industry, according to Hausbeck. She said she was notified in July that the carrot industry in Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin will receive funding from a new USDA program, one of only four such projects funded in the nation. The grant is titled “A Partnership Among Eastern United States Carrot Stakeholders to Develop and Implement IPM.”
The objectives of the GREEEN project include:
1) Expand and/or develop additional markets for Michigan carrots by:
- -assessing current markets
-extending the season through expanded carrot storage by developing a best management practices guidelines
-developing alternative uses and value-added products and
-increasing the proportion of marketable carrots by optimizing fertilizer applications and timing.
2) Develop a pest management transition strategy by:
- establishing a baseline reflecting current practices and attitudes regarding pest management
-testing alternatives for currently registered pesticides at risk with emphasis on reduced risk products or soft pesticides
-develop a carrot production system that minimizes or eliminates pesticide use and determine the costs of production relative to a traditional system
-develop forecasting and pest monitoring systems to time sprays
-use precision application and technology to decrease amount of active ingredient and/or increase application interval
-screen varieties for disease, insect and nematode resistance.
