The Ontario (Canada) Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) had put together a few videos, and a nice page of links, to help familiarize farmers with the causes and effects of pesticide spray drift.  For anyone concerned about drift this is an ideal place to start your education!

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/resource/spraydrift.htm

Here is a video of someone using a Mini Mantra Plus ULV Sprayer (model 100300) in Argentina:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VGAqsSAvj8

Note the high speed of application - you are able to adjust the rate to match your walking speed.  With a glyphosate product you are able to spray 2500 square meters (about 0.62 acres) per 500 ml (17 oz.) tank as seen in the video.

Katana, a herbicide containing the active ingredient flazasulphuron that controls a large range of broadleaf weeds and grasses, is now available in the United States.  What sets Katana apart is the speed that it works, and its effectiveness at very low rates.

There have already been a number of successful trials applying Katana with Mankar Ultra-Low Volume Sprayers, you can find the results in our 24-page brochure.

To request a brochure simply email us your information at info@mankar.ca or give us a call at 647-309-7826.

Katana is distributed by PBI/Gordon Corporation.

Effects of weed control on the environment

While the study was done in 2005, it remains a useful piece of research as many North American jurisdictions are looking to reduce the environmental impact of their weed control programs.

http://www.ivam.uva.nl/index.php?id=224

GMPro magazine reported on a study performed by the University of Gueplh regarding the environmental impact of organic pest controls vs. synthetic.

The results of this study suggest that organic controls are less effective, and also create a greater negative environmental impact.

Read the article in GMPro Magazine here. Also, read the original research paper here.

On this Japanese website you can see a nice visual representation of how little herbicide is needed in the Mankar spraying systems:

http://www.cornucopiajapan.com/html/minimantrainfo.html

They show that for 1000 square meters (or 300 “tsubo” if that is the scale you use for measurement!) you can use as little as 100 ml of concentrate herbicide (approximately 0.11 gallons per acre, 1 litre per hectare).  This has been shown to be very successful in areas where you have already established control, however if you are looking to gain control of you weeds we recommend a rate of approximately 2 litres per hectare (0.22 gallons per acre) of glyphosate product for great results.

This Japanese site also points out that there is no need for water in the Mankar spraying systems - thereby saving you a lot of time as you do not need to return to a water source every time you need to refill your sprayer.

Less herbicide, no water, lightweight, and less refills and are some of the benefits of Mankar ULV Sprayers, and with over 15 years of success in weed control around the world they are the best choice for someone looking to save time and money on weed control.

Dow Agrosciences recently held a webinar discussing the economics of weed control in nurseries.  It is a very thorough explanation of resistance, crop safety, spraying vs. handweeding, and combining different herbicides for good control.  Two points that we address very well with the Mankar systems are the crop safety aspect due to our sprayhoods and low-pressure application, and the uniformity of application that we achieve with our patented segment rotation atomizer.

You can see the video here at the Nursery Management Pro website.

A great commercial in the Russian language promoting Mankar ULV sprayers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nka2pLTg7VA

Spring is coming a little faster than usual, meaning that for many of you spraying season is already here.  A lot of our customers have been very interesting in our results using Sureguard (Chateau) pre-emergent herbicide, and people have been busy with that already.  Others may wait to spray after their busy season is over, but either way when you go to pull out your machine from storage you may want to make sure it is ready to go.  Worst-case scenario:  you find that whoever put away the sprayer in the fall failed to clean it, or to charge the battery.  Cleaning the machine by running a few tanks of clean water through it usually does the trick, however some chemicals really harden up and you may want to contract the help of your closest dealer.  By regularly running water through your sprayer you will keep it in the best condition and ready to go.

Staying on top of your weed control is always a big concern, and the  Mankar ULV Sprayers can really help you in this area by allowing you to maximize your spraying while minimizing your time and chemical use.

Mankar Distributing Inc. is proud to announce that we will now be distributing the MAFEX fine spray devices for potato and fruit.  The MAFEX system has been used in the potato and other industries for over 25 years, and is now being introduced to the North American market.  Ideal for application of CIPC to potatoes, it is also used for fungicide and wax applications, for example.  For now you can read more information on the manufacturer’s site at http://www.mantis-ulv.eu/47-1-mafex.html , and we will be adding more information to our site soon as well.