Development of a combined unit for chemical and electric radiation treatment of cotton plants
Abstract
The study is devoted to a combined unit that has been developed for cotton harvesting tractors. This unit combines technologies of chemical and electric radiation treatment of cotton plants. Thus, the authors solve the task of reduction of the negative impact of pesticides on the environment during chemical treatment of plants, including defoliation of cotton, by reducing consumption rates of chemicals. The paper discusses the basic sprayer to form a combined unit selected on the basis of preliminary field tests of boom and fan sprayers with movable and fixed working bodies. The work has established that a fan sprayer with two fixed nozzles has the main positive characteristics of boom and fan sprayers in chemical treatment of cotton, taken as the basis for formation of a combined unit. The authors concluded that field trials of a combined unit have shown that chemical treatment (defoliation) with simultaneous electrical irradiation accelerates the opening of cotton bolls 1.2-1.25 times. This makes it possible to start early harvesting of cotton in risky agriculture to reduce consumption rates of pesticides.