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Abstract.

Commercial pesticide applications using small-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is now well established as a crop protection method in China and East Asia. The brief but intense evolution and adoption of drone technology has been disruptive in the China crop protection industry. Users are unprepared on how to choose quality drones from such a wide array of models and configurations with unstandardized spray systems and lack of guidance on best spray practices to achieve effective crop protection. This presents challenges to correct and safe application of pesticides with drone applications, particularly at low or ultra-low water volumes. Most concerning is how to maximize spray accuracy and distribution while minimizing drift under dynamic environmental, crop growth, and pest biology conditions. Pesticides containing the active ingredient of chlorantraniliprole (Coragen®, Prevathon®, Altacor®) are among the most commonly used crop protection products sprayed via drones in China to control insect pests of rice. Drone end users are challenged with the lack of applicator experience that is far beyond basic drone operations but involves comprehensive understanding of the multiple variables affecting drone spray quality and pesticide efficacy. Hence, FMC Corporation developed an initial draft of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for proper drone application. The objective was to optimize the insecticidal attributes of FMC‘s chlorantraniliprole-based insecticides by maximizing spray quality, however, these BMP‘s will apply to most other pesticides including fungicides and herbicides. A holistic approach was employed with cross-disciplinary considerations from biological, chemical, and engineering perspectives along with complex environmental variables. These BMP‘s begin to mitigate the many variables that affect a quality spray by UAV application, but numerous knowledge gaps still exist that require further research to continually improve future best management guidance.