Pest Control Using Electrically Charged Water Droplets in Irrigation

Pest Control Using Electrically Charged Water Droplets in Irrigation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Pest Control Using Electrically Charged Water Droplets in Irrigation Hiroyuki Shimizu, Ibuki Onaga, Takuma Takanashi, Hiromi Mukai, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6458238/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract To support sustainable agriculture with a reduced reliance on chemical pesticides, we propose a novel pest control technique that utilizes electrostatically charged water droplets during irrigation. Inspired by the principles of electrostatic spraying, water droplets were negatively charged using needle-array electrodes under high-voltage and applied to crop environments. The effects of these charged droplets were evaluated on Myzus persicae (green peach aphid), a common pest of leafy vegetables, and fungus gnat larvae ( Bradysia spp. ), which damage mushroom cultivation beds. The results showed a statistically significant increase in aphid repellency with increasing voltage, particularly at − 50 kV, indicating a clear correlation between the applied voltage and pest avoidance. While no significant reduction in movement was observed in fungus gnat larvae, behavioral alterations such as abnormal postures, clustering behavior, and initial hyperactivity following droplet application were documented. These findings suggest that electric fields generated by charged droplets can affect insect behavior and offer a viable foundation for developing non-chemical electrostatic pest control systems compatible with irrigation practices. Biological sciences/Biotechnology Biological sciences/Plant sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Electrostatic pest control Charged water droplets Aphid (Myzus persicae) Fungus gnat larvae (Bradysia spp.) Non-chemical insect control Sustainable agriculture Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6458238","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":448356917,"identity":"eca408ae-3397-47c5-b8a4-958084884cce","order_by":0,"name":"Hiroyuki 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spp.), Non-chemical insect control, Sustainable agriculture","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6458238/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6458238/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTo support sustainable agriculture with a reduced reliance on chemical pesticides, we propose a novel pest control technique that utilizes electrostatically charged water droplets during irrigation. Inspired by the principles of electrostatic spraying, water droplets were negatively charged using needle-array electrodes under high-voltage and applied to crop environments. The effects of these charged droplets were evaluated on \u003cem\u003eMyzus persicae\u003c/em\u003e (green peach aphid), a common pest of leafy vegetables, and fungus gnat larvae (\u003cem\u003eBradysia spp.\u003c/em\u003e), which damage mushroom cultivation beds. The results showed a statistically significant increase in aphid repellency with increasing voltage, particularly at \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;50 kV, indicating a clear correlation between the applied voltage and pest avoidance. While no significant reduction in movement was observed in fungus gnat larvae, behavioral alterations such as abnormal postures, clustering behavior, and initial hyperactivity following droplet application were documented. These findings suggest that electric fields generated by charged droplets can affect insect behavior and offer a viable foundation for developing non-chemical electrostatic pest control systems compatible with irrigation practices.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Pest Control Using Electrically Charged Water Droplets in Irrigation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-29 16:47:02","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6458238/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"80c0f3f9-aa10-4e2e-aa00-86fc165c1e76","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 29th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":47720600,"name":"Biological sciences/Biotechnology"},{"id":47720601,"name":"Biological sciences/Plant sciences"},{"id":47720602,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology"},{"id":47720603,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-05-05T04:53:31+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-29 16:47:02","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6458238","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6458238","identity":"rs-6458238","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}