ASTI Throughout the year, Coldiretti technicians provide, in an itinerant manner, the service of periodic calibration of sprayers, organizing collective centers on a rotation basis throughout the territory, including the one at the Cap Nord Ovest Agency in Villafranca d’Asti.
Equipped with a mobile bench and calibration, the technicians provide a fundamental service, sometimes even at home, for the correct adjustment of spraying machines. Coldiretti Asti is a Functional Verification Center authorized by the Region, in reference to a mandatory fulfillment for environmental and economic sustainability.
Coldiretti Asti technical manager Antonio Bagnulo explained: – «Every three years, or every two years in the case of machines owned by third parties, companies are required to undergo calibration checks, to ensure that their sprayers of plant protection products fall within the optimal standards for quantity and diffusion of the product dispensed, paying attention to drift, i.e. not to reach crops outside the target and to avoid loss of the product itself on the ground. This is an activity that is increasingly being monitored at all levels, regardless of who benefits from public funding. The national action plan, in fact, focuses precisely on the sustainable use of plant protection products, starting with the correct calibration and maintenance of spraying machines».
The Coldiretti technician Davide Frandino continued by focusing – «on the functional control, with the data collection of the machines used, and the practical simulation, up to the definition of a diagram which must be as compatible as possible with the vegetation to be treated. If necessary, necessary corrections will be made.”
At the end, the reports flow into a specific “bars” application which, in turn, replicates the data in the company file of the regional agricultural registry. My colleague for the San Damiano area Christian Trinchero concluded: – «Behind all this there is a great deal of organizational preparation work. The optimization of spraying helps to rationalize the treatment and improve the effectiveness of the active ingredients. In short, the product must be used to its best advantage and only when it cannot be done without it.”
Manuela Slut
