A research on determination of droplet distribution uniformity, spray deposition and drift in pesticide applications with rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicles against mediterranean fruit fly (ceratitis capitata weid.) (diptera: tephrididae) in citrus

Turkey has a significant potential in terms of citrus production and as of 2024, this production was realized as 5.5 million tons. One of the most important pests causing crop loss by damaging the fruit in citrus orchards is the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) (Diptera: Tephritidae). In this study, spraying was performed against the Mediterranean fruit fly using a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle at the recommended dose and at a 70% reduced dose. In the first year of the trials, the amount of pesticide residue was determined in leaf samples collected from trees after pesticide application, and the amount of pesticide drift was determined on cotton cloths placed on the soil surface. It was found that the pesticide residue amount detected in the recommended dose applications was higher than the residue amount found in the 70% reduced dose application. There was a statistically significant difference between doses in terms of residue levels in cotton fabric samples (p<0.001). The average droplet diameter and number of droplets were determined in two different spraying applications using water and water+ziray with an unmanned aerial vehicle. In the spraying trials using water, the average droplet diameter on water-sensitive paper placed on the trees was determined to be 196.0 µm and the average number of droplets was 164.5 droplets/cm², while in the spraying trials using water+ziray, the average droplet diameter was calculated to be 205.0 µm and the average number of droplets was 77.5. According to the results obtained in this study, as the droplet diameter increased, the number of droplets decreased. In the spraying experiment with water, the average droplet diameter was determined to be 220.0 µm on water-sensitive paper placed on the wood sampling surface, while in the spraying experiment with water+ziray, this value was calculated to be 160.0 µm.