Pesticide Application Equipment - How Federal Regulations on Pest Control Affect It

Engineers have an opportunity to develop pesticide application equipment that will help prevent unreasonable adverse effects of pesticides on the environment, including humans. Recent and continuing federal regulations on uses of pesticides emphasize legal requirements for specific methods of pesticide application. Also the regulations incite development of pesticide application techniques that would allow restricted use pesticide product labels to be changed to the general use classification. The product could then be used by the general public, as opposed to only those certified as competent to use the otherwise restricted product.

Among present needs are improvements in, or development of: positive shut-off nozzles, calibration-sensitive granule applicators, soil incorporation of pesticide granules, planting time placement of soil-incorporated insecticide that is mixed with either dry or liquid fertilizer, post crop emergence soil pesticide incorporation, dry bait placement at plant base, dry bait broadcasting, and metering controls.