BIOXPRAY Protect: technology to mechanize biological pest control
Biological control has become an increasingly important tool for protecting crops through the use of organisms that help control certain pests.
However, scaling this strategy up to large areas is still a challenge: how can beneficial fauna be distributed evenly and in a controlled way without relying on manual processes?
To meet this need, ID David, in collaboration with AgrobÃo, has developed BIOXPRAY Protect, a solution that mechanizes and digitalizes the application of beneficial organisms, bringing technology and precision agriculture to the field of biological control as well.
What is BIOXPRAY Protect?
BIOXPRAY Protect is a smart biological control applicator, designed to distribute beneficial organisms, such as phytoseiid mites and beneficial insects, directly onto the crop.
Until now, many of these applications have relied on manual processes or on equipment with little specialization. This can limit daily work capacity, increase labor requirements and make uniform distribution difficult as the size of the farm grows.
BIOXPRAY Protect turns this task into a mechanized, adjustable and traceable operation.
How does it work?
One of the main challenges lies in the characteristics of the material being applied.
These organisms (such as phytoseiid mites) have a very low density and behave differently from seeds, fertilizers or microgranules, so conventional pneumatic systems cannot always maintain stable dosing.
For this reason, BIOXPRAY Protect features a pneumatic dosing system that delivers a continuous flow and even distribution throughout the entire application.
Dosing and airflow can be adjusted electronically to adapt the machine’s operation to the organism used, the required dose, the crop and the working conditions.
A machine adaptable to different crops
Its variable-geometry hydraulic structure allows both the application height and width to be adjusted according to the crop and the planting layout, reaching a working width of up to 7 meters, so the same platform can be used in different scenarios.
It can work in a wide range of crops, such as citrus, fruit orchards, vineyards, berries and small fruits, vegetable crops, and other trellised or high-density crops.
Towards precision biological control
BIOXPRAY Protect goes one step further by incorporating precision agriculture tools.
From a screen in the tractor cab, the operator can monitor and adjust the machine’s main working parameters, such as dosing, the pneumatic system, height or the opening of the structure.
The equipment also includes the following functions:
- GPS positioning
- Route logging
- Application history
- Area covered
- Job geolocation
- Telemetry and monitoring
- Application map generation
These tools make it possible to record each operation and improve its traceability, turning a task that is hard to document into a measurable, controllable and repeatable process.
It is a step towards what we can call precision biological control: combining beneficial organisms, mechanization and technology to carry out applications tailored to the needs of professional agriculture.
