Investigation of an automatic pesticide rate control system for a self-propelled boom sprayer
Galya Hristova
, Petya Veleva
Abstract: A one-year field experiment was conducted in the land of the town of Merichleri, Central Bulgaria (42o08'37''N25o29'56''E), to investigate a self-propelled boom sprayer with automatic control for the consumption rate according to the parameter Deviation from the consumption rate (DCR). The study presents small-volume spraying at a fixed consumption rate of 150 l/ha in three operating modes of a self-propelled sprayer (Working mode 1 (WM1) - 10km/h, Working mode 2 (WM2) – 13 km/h and Working mode 3 (WM3) – 15 km/h). With a soil moisture meter AM-128 SOIL, the instantaneous soil moisture in the studied area was measured to establish its influence on the operation of the sprinkler. The applied Univariate ANOVA analysis shows the presence of significant differences at p < 0.05 between the selected operating modes of the sprayer. Correlation analysis revealed a downward, weak to moderate relationship (-0.227; -0.410; -0.412) between sprinkler working speed (SWS) and soil moisture (SM) for the three operating modes. A weak to moderate but positive correlation (0.069; 0.243; 0.488) is also observed between SM and deviations from the consumption rate, indicating that as SM increases, so does the consumption rate. The strongest, negative correlation was found between SWS and DCR (-0.783; -0.953; -0.977), i.e. as SWS increases, DCR decreases. Two types of regression models (Linear and Cubic) were compared at p˂0.05 defining the relationship between SWS and DCR in the three operating modes. The cubic model in WM2 is characterized by the best estimation error, high coefficient of determination (R2=0.937) and best describes the studied parameters.
Keywords: consumption rate; plant protection machines; setting up a self-propelled boom sprayer; statistical analysis
Citation: Hristova, G. & Veleva, P. (2025). Investigation of an automatic pesticide rate control system for a self-propelled boom sprayer. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 31(2), 417–422.
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| Date published: 2025-04-28
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