Doing more with less

Controlling weeds in an amenity setting is problematic. There is considerable public pressure to reduce glyphosate usage due to safety concerns and this is backed up by several trade unions calling for it to be banned. However, the public do want weeds to be kept under control and in a cost-effective way. The tension occurs because the use of glyphosate is still the most cost-effective way to combat weeds.

What if there was a way to dramatically reduce glyphosate usage, improve operator safety and costs and still get the same results?

The answer, already acknowledged by many of those responsible for weed control, is controlled droplet application (CDA) spraying. But, not all CDA spraying is cost effective. Not all CDA sprayers are made equal. Most CDA sprayers require that the glyphosate is diluted or expensive premixed glyphosate must be purchased.

The Mankar ULV CDA sprayer is different. It is the only sprayer that is both ULV (ultra low volume) and CDA. Instead of spraying diluted glyphosate it sprays the neat chemical but in a way that dramatically reduces wastage and improves absorption. You can literally do more weed killing with less weed killer.

But how?

Flow rates. Mankar ULV sprayers are the only sprayers that can get down to the incredibly low flow rates required to spray neat glyphosate 480. The recommended application rate is between 1 and 3 litres per hectare and it needs to be diluted with about 80-200 litres of water because conventional sprayers simply can’t spray at low enough volumes to deliver it neat. And this is why most CDA sprayers require that glyphosate is diluted or premixed.

Mankar sprayers can achieve flow rates as low as 1.3 ml per minute. This means they can deliver the neat glyphosate 480 at the required spray rate without dilution. No special chemicals are needed, just spray it neat.

The optimised droplet size and the low flow rates mean:

• Less run off
• Improved absorption rates
• Improved adhesion to leaves
• No drift wastage

What this means is that you can use between 50% and 80% less actual glyphosate active ingredient per area and still get the same weed killing power. In addition, the huge reduction in overall spray volume and the elimination of fine droplets means that operator contamination is reduced to negligible levels when compared to conventional sprayers.