Improving the quality of herbicide applications to oil palm in Malaysia using the CFValve - a constant flow valve

Flow control is essential for accurate, consistent applications of pesticid es. Two constant flow valves, the CFValve and the SMV, were retrofitted to a knapsack sprayer and the spray equipment was used to control weeds in oil palm grown in Malaysia. Visual evaluations of weed control as well as asse ssments of spray deposition and worker exposure were compared for each spra yer configuration. Deposition of spray and the resulting weed control was m ore efficient with equipment that included the flow control valves. These e quipment configurations also significantly reduced the amount of spray solu tion found on the thigh of the applicator when compared to the standard equ ipment. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.