LAUSR

BACKGROUND Pesticide drift is a serious environmental and safety concern that affects all of U.S. agriculture. A number of mitigation techniques to reduce pesticide drift have been recommended by industry, academic and government agencies. These techniques are very costly or reduce the efficacy of the pest control product and have not been implemented by U.S. agriculture. RESULTS When using a novel spray technique (Air-in), pesticide drift was significantly reduced between 53% to 99% at 7.6 m from the orchard drip line when compared to the grower standard. This technique not only reduced pesticide drift but also maintained or improved the amount of pesticide residue deposited (0.7 to 2.6 times) and the percent pesticide coverage (1.0 to 1.4 times) with different air-blast speed sprayers on almond, walnut and pistachio. CONCLUSION The Air-in technique shows great promise in reducing pesticide drift while maintaining or improving pesticide coverage with minimal cost to the grower. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.