Cotton Pest Control & Defoliant Operation with DJI Agras Drones in Turkey

 

Cottons grown in sandy soil with little nutrients, cotton easily suffers from malnutrition, causing fragile stem during growth period which will increase the risk of pest attacks. Prior to the harvest date, cotton producers usually apply defoliant to cotton to improve the harvesting efficiency with machineries.

 

In September, 2022 we went on to two cotton fields in Turkey with local plant protection team to see how different DJI Agras drones solve problems that cottons would encounter during different growing phase. The operation parameters as well as the chemical category and dosage were documented.

 

Growing phase troubleshooting: stem strengthening & pest control

 

Credit to SZR Tarım Drone Spraying

 

The first operation took place on September 28, 2022 in the cotton field of Küçükçıldırın Village in the city of Adana of Turkey.

 

When arriving at the cotton field, the plant protection team found that the cotton straws were weak and fragile due to lack of potassium. Some pests were also observed on the plants, including helicoverpa armigera (green worm) and gelechia gossypiella (pink bollworm) and Aphid.

 

Operation Parameters

 

Type of Drone	DJI Agras T30	Firmware Version	v.509
Operation mode	Route Op. Mode	Operation Speed	6.3 m/s
Operation height (from the top of the crop)	3 Meters	Line spacing/ width	8 Meters
Liquid amount sprayed per hectare (or per MU)	10 Liters	Nozzle type	XR TEEJET 11001V8

 

Chemicals used

 

Credit to SZR Tarım Drone Spraying

 

Chemical commercial name	Formulation	Active ingredient and the percentage	Chemical amount (g or ml) used per hectare
Ekvator	20 SL Fluent Concentrate Suspension Concentrate	88 g/l Mepiquat Chloride + 22 g/l Cyclanilide	400 ml
Liberator	10 EC Emulsion Concentrate	100g/1 Pyriproxyfen	10 L water and 500 cc chemical
Arrivo	20 EL Emulsion	200 g/l Cypermethrin	10 L water and 1000 cc chemical
Corragen	20 SL Fluent Concentrate Suspension Concentrate	200 g/l Chlorantraniliprole	10 L water and 200 cc chemical
Flash Kali	Emulsion Concentrate	Potassium Oxide	10 L water and 1500 cc chemical

 

After the operation, pests were eliminated from the plants and the cotton stems have become stronger because of the added potassium. There were no damage on the cotton caused by tractor. As the client saw the effect of the spraying in time, he agreed on the effectiveness of drone spraying.

 

Mature Period: Bolls Started to Open 7 Days After Defoliant Application

 

The other operation took place on September 10, 2022 upon a client's request. The defoliant application was scheduled 14 days prior to harvest, so that the cotton plant flowers would be opened totally and be ready for harvesting.

 

There were no damages observed on the plants. This defoliant application is made for drying the plant and opening the cottons' bolls. The bolls on the field were observed to be open about 70% and this defoliant application is made for opening of the remaining bolls.

 

Before the defoliant application, credit to Çukurova Gübre Tarımcılık

 

Normal tractor spraying causes damages on the plant and reduces the amount as well as the quality of the harvest. So our client agreed to make this application from the air by drone.

 

Operation Result

 

After 7 days from the defoliant application, all the bolls were observed to be opened, leaves were dried and fell down so as a result all plants were ready for harvesting.

 

Day 7, credit to Çukurova Gübre Tarımcılık

 

Operation Parameters

 

Type of Drone	DJI Agras T10	Firmware Version	v.01.00.509
Operation mode	Route Op. Mode	Operation Speed	4.5 m/s
Operation height(from the top of the crop)	2 Meters	Line spacing/ width	4,25 Meters
Liquid amount sprayed per hectare (or per MU)	14 Liters	Nozzle type	XR TEEJET 11001V8

 

Info of Chemicals

 

Credit to Çukurova Gübre Tarımcılık

 

Chemical commercial name	Formulation	Active ingredient and the percentage	Chemical amount (g or ml) used per hectare
Baystar	Defoliating Agent 10-14 before harvest	Thidiazuron + Diuron 119.75 + 59.88 g/l	600 ml
Extang	Boll Opener14 before harvest	Ethephol 720 g/l	2000 ml

 

Operation Take-away:

 

We observed a better effect on the plants when spraying at a lower speed and with less concentration of the defoliant per hectare. These operation parameters used were 100% effective on site and on day 14, the client was able to harvest at great convenience.