Pneumatic Insect Control: Does Pneumatic Equipment Damage the Crop?

While there is potential for plant damage with pneumatic equipment, especially at higher air speeds, the extent of plant damage will depend on factors such as travel speed, crop variety, and plant size. For example, young potato plants (< 40 cm and < 12 true leaves) can tolerate moderate airstream velocities (i.e. up to 27.5 m/s) without incurring visible damage, but exposure of plants to higher air speeds can result in considerable damage, regardless of plant height (see Khelifi et al. 1995). At travel speeds that result in relatively short periods of exposure to the airstream, potato plants can withstand velocities of up to 40 - 50 m/s, particularly if passes are made only once or twice a week (see Lacasse et al. 1998a). There is only a limited amount of quantitative research available on this aspect of pneumatic control, so it would probably be prudent to do a pilot test to determine the combination of airflow velocity and travel speed that will minimize plant damage in your particular cropping situation.

The transmission of disease and insect pests within fields or from field to field would also be a potential problem with pneumatic equipment, so high standards of sanitation would be essential.