Aero-blast sprayers are a viable alternative to hydraulic sprayers especially when the sprayer has to deposit chemicals on target which are very far from the sprayer. The performance of tractor operated aero-blast sprayer was evaluated under lab and field conditions. The sprayer was operated in the guava orchard at three forward speeds i.e. 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 km/h and three fluid flow pressures i.e. 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 kg/cm2. The droplet density on the upper side of the top leaves, middle leaves, and bottom leaves varied from 57 to 112 drops/cm2, 52 to 72 drops/cm2, and 40 to 57 drops/cm2 respectively. Area covered by droplet spots on the upper side of the top leaves, middle leaves, and bottom leaves varied from 15.64 to 24.18mm2/cm2, 14.12 to 21.10mm2/cm2, and 8.11 to 15.34mm2/cm2 respectively. The volume of spray deposition on the upper side of the top leaves, middle leaves and bottom leaves varied from 443.51 to 683.65 × 10-6 cc/cm2, 356.31 to 631.28 × 10-6 cc/cm2 and 266.90 to 670.86 × 10-6 cc/cm2 respectively. The actual field capacity of the sprayer was found in the range of 1.60-2.03 ha/h at selected forward speeds with field efficiency of 80 to 80.87 %. The average fuel consumption was obtained to be 5.30 to 5.60 l/h

Aero-blast sprayer, horticulture sprayer, tractor operated sprayer, sprayer testing, plant protection, performance evaluation of sprayer

In undertaken research work tractor operated aeroblast sprayer was evaluated in laboratory condition and field condition were conducted at three travel speeds 2 km/h, 2.5 km/h and 3 km/h and three fluid pressures 3 kg/cm2, 3.5 kg/cm2 and 4 kg/cm2. The experiment conducted to evaluate an aero blast sprayer, number of observations were recorded, analysed the data and results are drawn. Thus main conclusions from results and discussion are given below. — The droplet density on the upper side of the top leaves, middle leaves, and bottom leaves varied from 57 to 112 drops/cm2, 52 to 72 drops/cm2, and 40 to 57 drops/cm2 respectively. — Area covered by droplet spots on the upper side of the top leaves, middle leaves, and bottom leaves varied from 15.64 to 24.18mm2/cm2, 14.12 to 21.10mm2/cm2, and 8.11 to 15.34mm2/cm2 respectively. — The volume of spray deposition on the upper side of the top leaves, middle leaves and bottom leaves varied from 443.51 to 683.65 × 10-6 cc/cm2, 356.31 to 631.28 × 10-6 cc/cm2 and 266.90 to 670.86 × 10-6 cc/cm2 respectively. — In laboratory and field test we found that NMD and VMD decreases with the increase in pressure. — The field capacity and field efficiency of the aero-blast sprayer was found 1.60 to 2.03 ha/h and 80 to 80.87% respectively. — The fuel consumption of aero-blast sprayer was found 5.30 to 5.60 l/h. The average fuel consumption was obtained to be 5.30 to 5.60 l/h. — The cost of operation of tractor mounted aero-blast sprayer was computed Rs.1265 /h. Hence in research work undertaken, the aero blast sprayers performance was found satisfactory and it can be used for other horticultural crops also with little adjustments

D.M. Kadam, A.K. Choudhri, A.K. Shrivastava, R.K. Dubey, Rahul Dongre and Avinash Kumar (2022). Study of Performance Parameters and Evaluation of Tractor Operated Aero-Blast Sprayer for Horticultural Crop. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(2): 1610-1616