Agricultural Spray Inspection According to ISO 16122

Abstract

The development of the primary sector by expansion of cultivation areas and the raise of productive indexes promotes a larger use of agrotoxics, causing problems related to the inefficiency of applications, which becomes an issue to be studied, especially regarding the quality of sprayers and the precision of spraying. The goal of the present paper is to determine the condition and conservation of agricultural sprayers used in the West border and the Central region of Rio Grande do Sul state (RS), in southern Brazil, as well as identifying the most recurring problems, and assessing the applicability of ISO 16122 in the country’s reality. The execution of this work originated the Projeto de Inspeção de Pulverizadores Agrícolas (PIPA) [Agricultural Sprayer Inspection Project], which was undertaken in two regions of RS, inspecting 56 sprayers. The inspections were carried out by using the technical kit for agricultural sprayer inspection, according to requirements in the methodology described in ISO 16122 (2015). After evaluations were conducted, the data collected were submitted to exploratory analysis by descriptive statistics with the use of percentage frequency. Based on the results obtained, it was possible to conclude that there is need for agricultural sprayer inspection to become mandatory in Brazil. Considering the most frequent application problems, it was possible to verify that, in 64.29% of the evaluations, the precision of the manometer was considered as seriously flawed; in 73.21%, the transverse distribution of the spray wand was also seriously flawed, which is related principally to errors in the space among spray nozzles, and to their wear, affecting 76.79% of the cases in terms of application volume. Besides these, it was also observed that, in 69.64% of the inspected sprayers, the PTO rotation was below recommendation. In relation to the applicability of ISO 16122, it was concluded that there is need for it to be updated, developing specific methodologies for the inspection of self-propelled sprayers. In this sense, in case it be transcribed as ABNT NBR ISO 16122, the latter must specify new parameters so it be unanimously and appropriately used in accordance to Brazilian reality.

Technical inspection of agricultural sprayers in brazil

“…However, in 11% of them there was at least one valve with some kind of operating problems what means an average of 2.7 non-operating anti-drip valves for equipment. Data which corroborate with Martini et al [7], taking account that in 89.3% of the sprayers inspected, the anti-drip valve was present, however, in 16.1% of the cases, they presented malfunction. In relation to the presence and operation of old drip valves, more worrying data were reported by Sichocki [14], although present in 97% of hydraulic sprayers, in only 7% they presented adequate operator.…”

“…The third stage consisted in the evaluation of 56 agricultural sprayers in the Central region and in the region of the Western border of RS, totalling nine cities. According to Martini et al [7], the objective was to determine the state of use and conservation of agricultural sprayers, to identify the most frequent problems and to evaluate the applicability of the ISO 16122 [8] standard in an unprecedented way in Brazil. This review aim describe the results got through projects on inspection of agricultural sprayers in different Brazilian regions.…”

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

“…This index was developed with the purpose of to make a proposal aiming to standardize the criteria of classification of agricultural sprays to be used in future projects that use ISO 16122 (2015) for inspection of sprayers. It is noted that in this paper the results obtained are regarding safety and operation wich are presented as a second part of the work already published by Martini et al (2019).…”

“…11, No. 13;2019 When analyzing the continuous leaks, it is possible to observe a smaller occurrence compared to dripping, since no losses were observed in the spraying pump and in the hydraulic circuit. However, 50.00% of the continuous leaks were observed in the deposit and 50.00% in the nozzles.…”

Instruction level of operators of agricultural sprayers

“…[13], the non performing of filter cleanessess or the use of distinct filter meshes can cause premature wear and tear of nozzle, flowing reduction or solution distribution problems, once it may trouble the sprayer filtering system efficiency.…”