Comparison of Droplet Deposition, 28-Homobrassinolide Dosage Efficacy and Working Efficiency of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Knapsack Manual Sprayer in the Maize Field
Mujahid Hussain,
Zhao Wang,
Guanmin Huang,
You Mo,
Rehana Kaousar,
Liusheng Duan,
Weiming Tan
Affiliations
Mujahid Hussain
Engineering Research Centre of Plant Growth Regulators, Ministry of Education, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
Zhao Wang
Engineering Research Centre of Plant Growth Regulators, Ministry of Education, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
Guanmin Huang
Engineering Research Centre of Plant Growth Regulators, Ministry of Education, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
You Mo
Engineering Research Centre of Plant Growth Regulators, Ministry of Education, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
Rehana Kaousar
Department of Botany, College of Life Sciences, Government College University, Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Liusheng Duan
Engineering Research Centre of Plant Growth Regulators, Ministry of Education, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
Weiming Tan
Engineering Research Centre of Plant Growth Regulators, Ministry of Education, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China
Brassinolides (BRs) are naturally-occurring phytohormones, which are essentially important to improve the crop adoptive capacity to various stresses. Spray volume (SV) and agrochemical application methods are associated with chemical deposition and field efficiency. The objective of this study was to compare the possible effects of 28-Homobrassinolide (HBL) dosages 18, 22, and 30 mg a.i. ha−1 for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sprayers (15 L ha−1 and 30 L ha−1) and 22 mg a.i. ha−1 for Knapsack manual sprayers (KMS) (450 L ha−1) at maize silking stage on droplets deposition distribution, photosynthetic parameters, grain filling process and yield. The results showed that the droplet deposition of UAV (15, 30 L ha−1) was 47.04%, 8.89% higher than KMS. However, the UAV sprayer had a poor droplet deposition distribution. HBL significantly increased the photosynthetic parameters, grain filling rate, and yield. A UAV spray volume of 15 L ha−1 with 22 mg a.i. ha−1 significantly increased grains yield by 4.16–5.64%, 7.5–12.09% compared to KMS and CK in both years. Considering the high efficiency of the UAV sprayer and better effects of HBL on final yield, spraying 22~30 mg a.i. ha−1 with UAV spray volume 15 L ha−1 at the silking stage could be a better strategy.
