Development of a New Pesticide Spray Quality Evaluation Method Based on Disodium 4,4-Bis(2-sulfostyryl) Biphenyl (CBS-X)

The current methods of pesticide application quality evaluation have many limitations, including their inability to measure coverage and deposition simultaneously. Therefore, a spray quality evaluation method based on disodium 4,4'-bis(2-sulfostyryl) biphenyl (CBS-X) was developed in this study. This method does not require artificial collectors; instead, spray targets can be directly used for detection and coverage and deposition can be determined through image segmentation and target elution, respectively. The stability and accuracy of CBS-X were tested. Results showed that neither light nor storage influenced the coverage and deposition of CBS-X. The difference in coverage between this method and the water-sensitive paper (WSP) method was no more than 15%, and the difference in deposition between this method and the filter paper method was no more than 20%. Overall, the CBS-X-based method is not affected by environmental conditions and can be applied to inform the better pesticide application strategies.