Investigation of factors enhancing droplets spreading on leaves with burrs

Pei Wang; Chengrui Xu; Chengsong Li; Lihong Wang; Qi Niu; Hui Li

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1220878

Investigation of factors enhancing droplets spreading on leaves with burrs

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Aug 17:14:1220878. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1220878. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Pei Wang^{1

2}, Chengrui Xu¹, Chengsong Li^{1

3}, Lihong Wang¹, Qi Niu¹, Hui Li¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Agricultural Equipment for Hilly and Mountain Areas, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
² Interdisciplinary Research Center for Agriculture Green Development in Yangtze River Basin, College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
³ National Citrus Engineering Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences & Southwest University, Chongqing, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Spread effect is one of the aspects on deposition quality evaluation of pesticide droplets. It could be affected by many factors such as the microstructure of the target plant leaf surface, physical features of the droplets, and the concentration of spray additives.

Methods: In this study, using a high-speed photography system, 2.3% glyphosate ammonium salt solution with different concentration of the additive was applied to investigate the impact process of single droplet deposition on the plant leaf surface with burrs. Effect of droplet sizes and velocities on spreading area and dynamic deposition procedure was analyzed using image processing programs.

Results: The diffusion factor in the process of droplet spreading was changed over time. The occurrence of bubbles in the droplets was observed in the results. With the bubble generation, the droplet diameter expands and a better diffusion effect is obtained. As a result, better spreading effect was obtained as the droplet diameter was expanded with the generation of bubbles. The significant effects of each physical property of droplets on droplet spreading and the interaction effects between the influencing factors were analyzed. A significant correlation was found between additive concentration, droplet impact velocity, droplet diameters and droplet spreading area. All interactions of concentration:velocity, concentration:diameter, velocity:diameter, and concentration:velocity:diameter had a significant effect on the spreading area of droplets. The study of the factors influencing the process of pesticide droplet impact on the leaf surface contributes to the efficient use of pesticides. Thus, the consumption of pesticides and the resulting impact on the environment can be reduced.

Keywords: droplets; high-speed photography; impact velocity; spread area; weed leaves.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 32001425 and 32201651; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU-KT22024); the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, China, grant numbers cstc2020jcyj-msxmX0414 and cstc2020jcyj-msxmX0459; and the Open Funding of the Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology (Jiangsu University), grant numbers MAET202105.