Mechanical System Control in Biological Farming for Protected Crops

The widespread indiscriminate use of highly persistent and toxic plant protection productshas, over a long period of time, highlighted the negative aspects of the chemical defence of crops(accumulation of residues at the top of food chains, ecological impairment caused by pollution ofwater, etc).The distribution of useful insects on crops without doubt represents a crucial phase in biologicalcontrol strategies and at the same time the most critical as the particular biological characteristics ofuseful insects must always be taken into consideration. Distribution is usually carried out manuallyand is quite a demanding task for the operator. In addition to aspects linked to the cost of this type ofintervention, the manual distribution of living organisms also affects the efficiency of the distributionof the useful insect above all if it is not very mobile or in particular biological phases.Special attention must be given to the choice the quantities and the uniformity of distribution, whichdiffer for each organism released and the crop and type of breeding.The use of an operator can be considerably reduced by substituting manual with mechanicaldistribution, resulting in higher work capacity, improved intervention speeds and reduced runningcosts compared with manual means.From this derives the importance of mechanize the operation and therefore the value assumed bythe prototype, used in this study, for the distribution of useful organisms.In this study was analyzed a prototype for a mechanical distribution of entomophages, in laboratoryand in a protected crop, and have been checked the functional and working parameters in themodern productions.