Principal Investigator Kripa Varanasi
Project Website http://tatacenter.mit.edu/portfolio/enhancing-the-efficiency-of-pesticide-appli…
A major problem encountered with the use of pesticides in agriculture is that some plants are hydrophobic – that is, they cannot be wetted by water or pesticide solutions. Thus, farmers have to use large quantities of pesticides to protect their plants, creating environmental and health issues and increasing their production costs. To solve this problem, we are developing a chemical solution that can be mixed with pesticides before spraying to change the liquid properties and make it stick much better on both hydrophobic and hydrophilic plants.
By using small quantities of this product a farmer can drastically decrease his pesticide consumption, hence cutting pesticide costs and reducing exposure to these toxic products. Our product leads to a better spreading of the chemical than the surfactant-based products currently used by farmers, and does not have their usual side effects, such as wind drift of droplets and quick evaporation.
Technical development and commercialization of this product will go hand-in-hand with an effort to change farmers’ spraying habits and increase awareness about the benefits of using our solution.