Research progress on key technologies and equipment for air-assisted to target variable pesticide application in domestic orchards

High efficiency orchard spray with intelligent technology to achieve accurate pesticide spraying is the future development direction of orchard plant protection equipment in China. As an efficient and economical application technology for orchards, spray with targeted variable air-assisted has the advantages of accurate application, strong penetration and even distribution of spray, which is an inevitable technical choice for the sustainable development of orchard plant protection technology. In recent years, researchers have conducted studies on key technologies such as automatic targeting, efficient profiling, and precise variable spraying in orchard air-assisted for targeted variable pesticide application. Through theoretical modelling, design and processing, and experimental improvement, intelligent, efficient, and precise spraying orchard air-assisted pesticide application machinery with autonomous walking control has been developed. This has successfully created a new mode of fruit tree pesticide application with reduced usage and increased efficiency. This is of great significance for improving orchard operation efficiency, cutting labor costs, reducing pesticide use, and enhancing the core competitiveness and independent innovation capabilities of high-end plant protection intelligent agricultural machinery. This paper comprehensively elaborates on the origins, principles and significance of orchard air-assisted spraying technology, discusses the principles and characteristics of three key spray technologies and equipment: automatic targeting, efficient profiling and accurate variable spraying of orchard air-assisted spraying on target variables. Based on the state of basic theory, operational process, and technical equipment of orchard pesticide application, this paper systematically summarizes the research status and development history in related fields. Finally, it addresses the challenges and difficulties in current orchard air-assisted spraying on target variables technology and equipment, and proposes suggestions for its future research direction and development, aiming to provide theoretical ideas and technical references for discussion.