Abstract

In the agriculture industry, spraying pesticides is a crucial task for protecting crops from insects and achieving high yields. In Bangladesh, various types of pesticide sprayers are available on the market. However, farmers have mostly been applying pesticides using conventional methods, such as hand-operated and fuel-operated sprayer systems. A worker can typically operate a hand sprayer continuously for only five to six hours, and a fuel-operated sprayer requires fuel, which is expensive, pollutes the environment, and is difficult to find in remote areas. Also, certain pesticides are harmful to human health and can induce lumbar discomfort because of the weight of the equipment, and the farmer who is spraying them is also impacted by them because he comes into close contact with them. Furthermore, manual sprayers have limitations in maintaining the required pressure, leading to ineffective control of pests and loss of pesticides due to dribbling or drift during application. The goal of the study was to design and develop a semi-automatic sprayer to evaluate its technical performance. The proposed machine consists of a frame, PLC, sensor, battery, DC motor, spray tank, and wheel. Every component of the machine was fastened to the frame. The frame was made of a hollow MS bar. The machine's entire fabrication cost was US$ 310. The machine’s application rate was 229 L ha-1. The automatic spraying machine's theoretical and effective field capacities were determined to be 0.29 ha hr-1 and 0.20 ha hr-1, respectively. When the machine was operating at an average speed of 1.51 km h-1, its field efficiency was 69%. The machine's yearly cost was US$ 403.63, its capital recovery factor was 0.23, and its capital consumption was US$ 68.2. A significant advancement in agricultural technology, autonomous spraying devices address many of the limitations associated with traditional pest management methods.

Key words: Application rate, cost, field capacity, field efficiency, sprayer