Maize plants
Maize plants (Zea Mays) constitute one of the most widely extended cultivated plants around the world. First grown in America, they arrived in Europe thanks to the first journeys that Columbus did and later their cultivation was spread further to Africa and Asia. Nowadays, corn crops are grown in many areas of the world and they can be used in many ways, ranging from the human or animal feeding to several industrial purposes (power generation sources, in textile manufacturing industry, liquors and alcoholic drinks and so on). In fact, their stems can also be mashed up and incorporated to the land to be used as organic soil conditioner.
Maize plants are annual cycle Gramineae, which reach a height between 1,5 and 3 meters. They have thick and sturdy stems (over 15 mm), widely extended leaves (from 2 to 10 cm), with a clearly-outlined central nerve. Disregarding other edaphological conditions as sowing and irrigation, they need very specific amounts of minerals to develop properly.
The huge profitability which this plant offers, being able to reach 10.000 kg/ha. makes this a very attractive alternative. Moreover, the crops protection, an essential element in the sector of agriculture, gains much more importance, as its degree of exposure to different sort of insects and acari use to provoke pests. Another harmful factor is the proliferation of weeds.
Some reports founded on the surveys carried out to farmers place the Mediterranean and European corn borer as the most worrying insects if we consider the caused damage even though corn crops can be equally affected by click beetles, the Grey Worms, the Tortrix, bacteriosis, stem rust or corn smut fungi.
Agricultural sprayers for treating corn fields
To face these risk factors, phytosanitary products and mechanical appliances can be used to treat crops during pre-sowing stage, pre-emergence (after the sowing stage and before their birth) and post-emergence (once the plant has grown and has started development stage). Among the technical means, we can count on agricultural sprayers, manufactured with specific updated technology to meet the most recent demands.
The integrated management of crops and pests is the basis for culture's protection, which requires skilled professionals in the application with phytosanitary products and staff who can be aware of the importance of following the instructions given by technicians and comply those that chemicals and agricultural sprayers determine.
Such a tall plant like maize requires a very specific kind of agricultural sprayer. We are referring to
herbicide or boom sprayers. In this sense, Teyme introduces to the agricultural market the new HS1 series of lift-mounted herbicide boom sprayers, which consist in highly sturdy machines with huge durability and great accuracy in treatment. They are available with tanks of 1.000, 1.300, 1.600 and 1.800 L capacity: and booms of 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 21 meters long. It is a range of agriculture sprayers designed to fulfill the expectations of the most demanding cereal and vegetable agricultural farms.
TEYME' offer for phytosanitary products application in maize also includes the SGA series of lift-mounted herbicide agricultural sprayers (from 200L until 1.200L of capacity, suitable for treatments with hand-operated booms, weed booms and spraying-guns or lances).
In any case, for a correct handling of the phytosanitary products safety rules must be strictly followed. Applications with temperatures under 5ºC or over 30ºC are inadvisable, much more if weather conditions cause stress to the maize plants.
