Spraying OSR

The application of agrochemicals by modern crop sprayers involves sophisticated technologies applied by skilled operators.

This page connects organisations, initiatives and resources relevant to the application of pesticides and the operation of modern equipment.

The application of pesticides can only be undertaken by people qualified with a Certificate of Competence as set out by Chemicals Regulation Directorate (CRD) under Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986.  Operators must first acquire PA1 Certificate in the Principles of the Safe Handling & Application of Pesticides before gaining PA2 Certificate for vehicular application by boom sprayer, awarded by City & Guilds NPTC or Lantra.

Sprayer operators are expected to engage with Continued Professional Development through the National Register of Sprayer Operators (NRoSO), a scheme set up by the Voluntary Initiative and required by farm assurance schemes. 

There is a successful Facebook Group for Farm Sprayer Operators with over 4500 members where tips are shared.

Syngenta runs an annual competition for Farm Sprayer Operator Of The Year (FSOOTY).

  

Suggest more links and information for this page below. Request to Join to become a Steward and add wikipedia style summary.

 

Related Organisations

Content below is from across the PEP community and is not necessarily endorsed by Stewards or by PEP

Topic Comments

Discussion

0

Connected Content

Integrated Pest Management highlights the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms. IPM is one of the tools for low-pesticide-input pest management, and IPM must now be implemented by all professional agchem users.

Building the right skills for the agricultural industry has been recognised as crucial to its future success.

Crop protection refers to practices and measures employed in agriculture to safeguard crops from both biotic (pests, diseases and weeds) and abiotic (environmental factors) stresses. They key goal of crop production is to maintain crop productivity, health and quality whilst minimising yield losses.

With the high number of vehicles and machinery and potential for falling from heights, we all understand that farming is a hazardous occupation. It represents just under 2% of the workforce in Great Britain but accounts for around 19% of the reported fatal injuries each year. 

Leading arable event The CropTec Show is returning to the East of England Showground in Peterborough on November 23 and 24. Now in its 10th year, the event will deliver the well-loved CropTec formula combining industry-leading exhibitors, the latest machinery and technology, networking and discussion opportunities as well as valuable updates on developments across the arable sector.    Tickets are free and available now by registering at www.croptecshow.com.

The Voluntary Initiative is an industry led programme to promote the responsible use of plant protection products (PPP's) through schemes, tools and messages advocating an IPM-based approach to sustainable agriculture.

Insecticides are a type of agrochemical used to kill, harm or deter insects that either directly infect cultivated plants/animals or that are carriers of disease. In agricultural settings, insecticides may be used in both arable and livestock husbandry situations. The classification of insecticides can occur in various ways: via their biochemical mode of action, their mode of penetration or on the basis of their chemistry. They can also come in various formulations and delivery-systems such as sprays, gels or baits.

Professional development is an important part of a career journey - an opportunity for continuous learning, a way to stay up-to-date and to demonstrate relevance and expertise. Professional development activities can be completed in a number of different ways, from attending a training course, an event or a meeting to taking part in a webinar, listening to a podcast, reading an industry magazine or being a professional member of an organisation. Those on the BASIS Professional Register, FACTS Qualifed Advisers, RoSA sheep advisers and those on the Environmental Advisers Register are all required to collect a certain number of CPD (continuous professional development) points on an annual basis to demonstrate their commitment to enhancing knowledge and skills.  For more information, please visit: https://basis-reg.co.uk/schemes.

Enviresearch exists to provide the best regulatory and risk assessment service in Europe for the global chemical industry.

Silsoe Spray Application Unit is an experienced internationally recognised facility for research, development and bespoke testing, relating to the characterisation of sprays and spray behaviour, with particular expertise in the application of agricultural pesticides.

There has been a spate of reported sprayer problems from applications of T2 sprays with new fungi

Fungicides are a type of agrochemical used specifically to kill fungal pathogens or inhibit the growth of fungi and the spores that they produce. They full under the umbrella of plant protection products (PPPs), also referred to as pesticides, along with other agrochemicals such as herbicides and insecticides that target weeds and insect pests respectively.  Prior to the development of fungicides, there are many historic cases of pathogenic fungi devastating crop yields - one of the most famous being the Irish Potato famine of 1845-52. This was caused by the potato late blight fungal pathogen Phytophthora infestans which today still causes massive losses to agriculture globally, although management by fungicides is now an important component of control.  A wide variety of fungicides exist with various modes of action (MOAs) to effectively control many fungal diseases including mildews, rusts, blights and leaf spots. A threat to modern agriculture is the development and spread of resistance to such fungicides amongst fungal populations.

Agrochemicals are chemical products used for agricultural purposes. Although agrochemicals have high input costs, they are widely used in the farming industry for their beneficial effects on crop yields and quality and associated reduced labour costs. Together with advances in agricultural machinery and infrastructure, the use of agrochemicals played a large role in the Green Revolution. This was a period in the 21st century in which the spread of various agricultural technologies led to greatly increased yields and production globally. However, a number of concerns around agrochemicals exist including negative effects on human health and the environment and the development of pest populations that are becoming resistant to them. A major challenge of modern agriculture is to try and reduce reliance on agrochemicals whilst continuing to increase yields and feed a growing global population.

The biennial International Advances in Pesticide Application is the pre-eminent conference aimed at researchers, advisors, manufacturers, practitioners and regulators in this subject area from around the world. It provides an opportunity for networking and sharing ideas in an informal and collegial atmosphere for all those with an interest in pesticide application technology, its influence on the performance of plant protection products and human and environmental exposures to pesticides.  

Write whatever you want here - this is the main section. You can add links, add pictures and embed videos. To paste text from elsewhere use CTRL+Shift+V to paste without formatting. Add videos by selecting 'Full HTML' below, copying the 'embed html' from the source page (eg Youtube), clicking 'Source' above and pasting where you want the video to appear.
You can upload an image here. It can be jpg, jpeg, gif or png format.
Upload requirements

You can upload a file here, such as a pdf report, or MS Office documents, Excel spreadsheet or Powerpoint Slides.

Upload requirements
Authors Order
Add Authors here - you can only add them if they already exist on PEP. Just start writing their name then select to add it. To add multiple authors click the 'Add another item' button below.

Please ensure that you have proof-read your content. Pages are not edited further once submitted and will go live immediately.