Plant Protection Equipment: Dusters
The desired effects of a pesticide can be obtained only if it is applied in an appropriate time and in a proper method. The important methods of applying pesticides are dusting and spraying. The appliances that are used for applying dust and spray formulation of pesticides are called dusters and sprayers, respectively.
Dusters:
All dusters consist essentially of a hopper which usually contains an agitator, an adjustable orifice and delivery tubes. A rotary fan or a bellows provides the conveying air.
A) Manually Operated Dusters:
1. Plunger Duster: It is simple in construction and consists of a dust chamber, a cylinder with a piston or plunger, a rod and a handle. It is useful for small scale use in kitchen garden and in household.
2. Bellows Duster: It has a pair of bellows made of leather, rubber or plastic. The bellows can be worked with a handle just like a Blacksmith does. The dust is placed either in the bellows or in a separate container made of wood, metal or plastic attached to one end of the bellows. The air current that is created runs through the container and drives the dust out through an opening.
3. Hand Rotary Duster: They are also called crank dusters and fan type dusters. They may be shoulder mounted, back or belly mounted. Basically a rotary duster consists of a blower complete with gear box and a hopper with a capacity of about 4-5 kg of dust. The duster is operated by rotating a crank and the motion is transmitted through the gear to the blower. The air current produced by the blower draws the dust from the hopper and discharges out through the delivery tube which may have one or two nozzles. It is used for dusting field crops, vegetables and small trees and bushes in orchards. The efficiency of these dusters is 1 to 1.5 ha/day.
B) Power Operated Duster:
1) Engine operated dusters
2) Wet dusters