Dynamics of spray deposition pattern with UAV ‐based herbicide application for effective weed management in sugarcane crop

Abstract BACKGROUND Sugarcane productivity is severely constrained by weeds, which reduce yield by 12.0–83.0%, impair crop quality, and harbour pests and diseases. This study was designed to analyze the dynamics of spray deposition pattern of a UAV‐based herbicide spraying system for efficient weed management in sugarcane compared to manual knapsack sprayer as a control. The experiment was conducted using a split‐plot design with two herbicide combinations as main plots, and evaluating three UAV flight speed and three heights of spray application as sub‐plots with three replications. RESULTS UAV flight height, flight speed and droplet size significantly influence spray deposition pattern. Optimal conditions for herbicide application were UAV flight speed of 3.0 m s −1 and a flight height of 1.0 m above the crop canopy using halosulfuron methyl + metribuzin. The spray deposition parameters included a coverage range of 15.9–17.1%, droplet density of 45.4–46.4 droplets cm −2 , number median diameter and volume median diameter of 107.6–109.7 μm and 273.7–276.0 μm, respectively, resulting in a spray drift potential indicator of