The charged and partially discharged Electrodyn was evaluated at various swath rows of cotton. The results of field trials suggest that under a low pest pressure, a wider swath up to two or even more rows is possible, with the current version of Electrodyn sprayer, without any significant effect on the yield of seed cotton. Similar yields of seed cotton were also obtained with both charged and partially discharged Electrodyn.

The insecticide application techniques on cotton were compared in a series of trials. The new techniques compared well with knapsack sprayers and can play an important role in the control of Heliothis and other insect pests of cotton in Zambia. The ‘Electrodyn’ knapsack and ULV sprayers gave similar yields and pest control with cypermethrin at 30 g a.i./ha. A new pyrethroid lambda cyhalothrin (12 g a.i./ha) gave similar yields to cypermethrin (30 g a.i./ha) irrespective of the spraying techniques (Electrodyn, knapsack and ULV). The new application techniques have more potential for small-scale cotton farmers in developing countries as they receive limited training on the dilution of insecticides with water and calibration of knapsack sprayers.