Modern application methods involving computers, video cameras and even satellites, are dramatically increasing the efficiency of agricultural chemical use while reducing undesired side effects, reports Ken Giles, an authority on pest-control and crop protection technologies. These new methods allow farmers to better focus their chemical applications, making it possible to target even individual plants. In an overview of these new application technologies, Giles will discuss the use of video and spectral sensing to identify target plants and will explain how satellite signals are used in the Global Positioning System method to customize chemical applications according to the characteristics of various parts of an agricultural field. He also will discuss new techniques that make it possible to control the size of the chemical droplets, in turn assuring that the chemical treatment lands on the target crop and does not drift off. "All of these application strategies make it possible to optimize the benefits and risks of pesticide use on increasingly smaller scales of land, crop area and pest infestations," Giles says.
Ken Giles
Professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Presentation: "Improved Delivery with New Application Methods"
Date and time: Tuesday, March 31, 9:30 a.m.
Location: Convention Center Room D270, Level 2
Media contacts:
Ken Giles, (530) 752-0687,
dkgiles@ucdavis.edu ;
Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843,
pjbailey@ucdavis.edu