Agricultural Spray Inspection According to ISO 16122: Part II—Determination of the State of Use and Conservation of Agricultural Sprayers

Abstract

Considering the need to reduce environmental contamination and uplift the effectiveness and quality of pesticide application, this work had the goal to determine the conditions of use and conservation of agricultural sprayers used in the Central and Western border of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and to identify the most frequent problems in agricultural sprayers. Fifty-six sprayers connected to a three-point hydraulic system and the tractor drawbar were inspected, evaluating the safety and operation items using the methodology described in the Standard ISO 16122. After the evaluations, the collected data were submitted to an exploratory analysis by using descriptive statistics with the use of percentage frequency. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to observe that the most serious problems are mainly related to the safety of the operator and the environment, since 41.07% of the sprayers did not have the protection of the cardan transmission and 33.93% did not have the protection of straps and pulleys. In addition, static leaks were present in 46.43% of the samples and 87.50% presented dynamic leaks. In 71.43% of the cases, there was no presence of a clean water reservoir to wash the rigid packagings. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the state of use and conservation of the inspected sprayers is serious, justifying the need for inspections on agricultural sprayers to become mandatory in Brazil, also requiring government policies for the renewal of these equipments, as well as, the homologation of research centers to conduct tests on agricultural machinery and implements before their commercialization. In addition is also necessary to invest in training of operators by conducting technical courses about the importance of equipment knowledge, available technologies and necessary maintenance, as the level of knowledge is low about the basics of operational safety, maintenance and use of the sprayers which contributes to the high percentages of nonconformity with ISO 16122.

Instruction level of operators of agricultural sprayers

“…As it can be seen in Figure 1 [14], the main calibration error is related directly to the operator's lack of knowledge in terms of power take off (PTO), system pressure, suitable methodology for sprayer calibration and the use of the calibration cup for sprayer calibration.…”

“…In this sense, was reported that 77% of the interviewees did not use manometers for calibrating the sprayers simply by being unaware of the importance of those spraying parts [15]. It is important to ressault that according to Martini et al [14], most part of the sprayers calibration errors are related to the use of imprecises manometers or to the lack of them to determine the hydraulic circuit inner pressure. to 60 lb in -2 ) and conical spray nozzles may be used when pressure is around 533 to 1000 kPa (80 a 150 lb in -2 ).…”

“…(INMETRO) and so may be considered inappropriate for that purpose[10]. Similarly, Martini et al[14], describe that the use of the calibration cup may induce to calibration errors due to not presenting any scale graduation standard.However, it is important to emphasize that 25.00% of the interviewees answered performing calibration after every time the sprayer is used what might improve this activity (if performed suitably) in terms of quality allowing the active ingredient to perform better in terms of biological effectiveness. Considering the results related to the sprayers calibration frequency, it is important to point out that according to Martini et al…”

Technical inspection of agricultural sprayers in brazil

“…According to the author, in a total of 76 sprayers under inspection, 56.6% of them presented some kind of leakage occurrence, mainly in terms of the connection between the spraying nozzle and its caps and in terms of in-line filters, representing 58.1 sprayers or 9.3% of all. Considering leakage losses, the data published by Martini et al [12] are highlights, when of the 56 sprayers inspected, 23.2% had static leaks and 43.7% had dynamic leaks.…”

“…According to Martini et al [12], of the 56 sprayers inspected, only 23.2% of these complied with the ISO 16122 standard with regard to the presence and operation of the cardan tree protection mechanism. The authors point out that in 33.9% of cases, sprayers were being used with this damaged safety item and in 41.1% they were without the protection of the cardan tree.…”