News Crop protection
NVWA will check field sprayer with drones
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority will go nationwide this and next week - from 23 May to 3 June controls to the application of plant protection products. Drones and a helicopter are used for this. It concerns, for example, the correct application of drift-reducing technology.
It is not the first time that the NVWA drones commitment to carry out checks. This is certainly the case for crop protection, says Jan NVWA crop protection inspector Jan Ooijman. Since 2018, this technique has been used to check the spreading of fertilizers, detect dead animals and harmful insects. Drones cannot be deployed everywhere due to flight restrictions. The NVWA also deploys a helicopter and uses satellite images.
Drift reduction requirements
The drones are mainly used to locate field sprayers. When they notice a violation, such as a tree hanging over the ditch or a lace cap that is not used, a check follows in the field. The inspectors mainly look at the drift reduction technique used – for a minimum of 75% drift reduction – and the use of a lace cap. In 2020, the 'compliance rate' with these requirements was 71%. A year earlier it was 69%.
"An additional advantage is that you see a lot more with the drone," Ooijman explains. In fruit growing you can usually not see a sprayer well because of the windbreak around the plot. You can do that with the drone. Of course, privacy is taken into account and images are anonymized. There are different requirements for supervisors than for a hobby flight with a drone."
Niels van der Boom
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