New machine for furrow application in trials

For many years now, Wageningen UR has used fully automated GPS supported CHD trial sprayers to carry out crop protection field trials and has gained extensive knowledge of the technology. These sprayers allow the application of 10 different sprays in 4 replicates in one go. This means that all applications are executed in a very precise standardised way within about 10 minutes. All 10 spay tanks are prepared at the research farm with the correct dosages of crop protection products.

The trial design and the spray plan are imported into the spray computer. The tractor and the sprayer ‘know’ the exact positions of the trials and their individual plots. While driving and spraying, the driver can relax and concentrate on checking, for example, the functioning of the spray nozzles or the condition of the crop.

In the spring of 2016, we expanded this technology to in-furrow applications, by installing a set of 10 spray tanks onto the potato planter. For granule formulations comparable application equipment has been used already for a longer time. The combination of both enables us to execute a trial’s in-furrow applications (both liquids and granules) with a high level of standardisation, and within a short time frame.