U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2016





- ARS News & Events
- AgResearch Magazine
- Image Gallery
- News
- Search News & Events
- Insect Meal: A Grand Challenge
- The Chicken, the Egg, and Salmonella
- Cooking with Science: Strawberries
- ARS Featured Photos
- Down on the Farm
- Facebook Live Events
- Food and Nutrition Research Briefs
- News Archive
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Social Media
- Under the Microscope
- AgResearch magazine
- ARS at Work
- ARS Memorial Lectures
- ARS Science Hall of Fame
- Citrus Disease (Huanglongbing)
- Contact Office of Communications
- Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- Mobile Apps
- Public Affairs Contacts
- Publications and Other Resources
- USDA Blog
- Videos

ARS's new automated spraying system can detect the presence, size, shape and foliage density of trees and then apply the optimum amount of pesticide in real time.Click the image for more information about it.For further readingSpraying Insecticide? There's an App for That New Sprayer Technology Reduces Pesticide Use By Sharon Durham February 11, 2016 An experimental variable-rate spraying system that helps growers efficiently apply chemicals to trees was developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the agency's Application Technology Research Unit in Wooster, Ohio. The new sprayer reduced average pesticide use between 46 and 68 percent, with an average cost savings of $230 per acre for ornamental nurseries. The cost savings can be much higher for orchards and other fruit crop productions. ARS agricultural engineer Heping Zhu, along with engineer Richard Derksen and research leader Charles Krause, developed the laser-guided sprayer that synchronizes spray outputs to tree structures. Their colleagues at the Ohio State University, Oregon State University and the University of Tennessee evaluated the sprayer, which would help nursery, orchard and grape growers apply chemicals to trees. Zhu and his colleagues received a National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant to develop this technology to control insects and diseases. The technology and performance evaluations were described in several papers in the journal *Transactions of the ASABE*. The sprayer developed by Zhu and his colleagues controls output to match targeted tree structures. The two-ton sprayer can treat either a single row, or two to six rows of trees at a time. Conventional spray application technology requires excessive pesticide use to achieve effective pest control in floral, nursery, orchard, and other specialty crop productions, according to Zhu. This challenge is now overcome by the new precision sprayer, which is able to characterize the presence, size, shape and foliage density of target trees and automatically applies the optimum amount of pesticide. Zhu and his colleagues conducted field trials on the technology's performance in six commercial nurseries in Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee. Their field experiments showed that the precision sprayer consistently applied the correct amount of chemicals despite changes in tree structure and species, and increased consistency of spray deposition uniformity on targets at different growth stages. Pest control with the new sprayer was comparable to that of conventional sprayers and reduced pesticide use. ARS is the USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency. Read more about this technology in the February issue of *AgResearch* magazine.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov