Vineyard Treatments Performed With a Recycling Tunnel Sprayers Prototype: Preliminary Assessment

A towed single-row air-assisted tunnel recycling sprayer was developed by an Apulian Company in teamwork with the DISAAT of the University of Bari, aimed at meeting the requirements of the espaliers trained vineyards located in the Salento (Southern Apulia). Tests were then performed to assess the set up prototype with relation to the characteristic of the studied espalier trained vines. It was then necessary to point out technical solutions aimed at to reduce the size of the frame at the front of the machine, where is located the fixed shield. These actions made the prototype more suitable to the characteristics of the studied vineyards and the defined technical solutions can be considered generalizable for the tunnel sprayers employed in such trained vines of the Salento. Further tests are necessary to better assess the performance of the prototype also in different phenological stages.