ARS | Publication request: Uniformity of agro-chemicals and bio-compounds applied through drip irrigation system

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: December 20, 2007
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Citation: Zhu, H., Wang, X., Reding, M.E., Locke, J.C., Leland, J.E., Spongberg, A.L., Derksen, R.C., Krause, C.R. 2008. Uniformity of agro-chemicals and bio-compounds applied through drip irrigation system. ASABE Annual International Meeting. Paper 084084.

Technical Abstract: Distribution uniformity of water soluble and insoluble materials across drip lines and in the soil was evaluated through a drip irrigation system with emitters of three different flow capacities (2.0, 4.2 and 6.9 L/h). The evaluated materials representing different physical properties were a water soluble fluorescent tracer, a flowable insecticide imidacloprid, a suspendable entomopathogenic fungus (EPF), a suspendable microbial fungicide (MF), and entomopathogenic nematodes, respectively. Test results illustrated that all materials could be delivered through the drip irrigation system with the emitters tested; however, the distribution uniformity across the drip line and in the soil varied with the material formulation. Across the drip line, EPF had the highest coefficients of variation (CV), followed by MF, imidacloprid, nematodes, and fluorescent tracer while the distribution uniformity of the five materials had the inverse order of CV. In the soil, EPF and nematodes moved well with water and spread widely while imidacloprid could only spread narrowly near the emitter. Higher emitter capacity produced less variation of distribution uniformity of materials in the soil.