Crop protection companies ADAMA, BASF, Corteva Agriscience, Nufarm and Syngenta have joined together to promote the use of a new closed transfer system (CTS) in Europe, by piloting the CTS ‘easyconnect’ system in selected countries.
The easyconnect system consists of a unique screw cap which is pre-fitted to the container, and a coupler unit, which together form the CTS. It is expected that a broad range of industry standard containers will be fitted with the standardized pre-mounted screw cap by 2022, with farmers in the United Kingdom among the first to have access to the system.
“A CTS, such as easyconnect, allows crop protection products to be directly transferred from their original container to the spray tank and to accurately measure the volume of the chemical being transferred. This significantly reduces operator exposure and environmental risks from splashing or spilling,” explained Livio Tedeschi, Senior Vice President Agricultural Solutions EMEA and CIS at BASF SE.
“We would be delighted to see farmers adopting CTS,” added Karina von Detten, Head of Portfolio Solutions EuMEA at Nufarm. “That is why five of the biggest industry players are now taking a further step to independently test the easyconnect system more broadly and to continually improve the way crop protection products are handled.”
Developed by BASF in collaboration with third-party equipment manufacturers, easyconnect has been extensively tested on-farm in selected countries since 2015, and steadily improved based on user feedback. The system is said to make filling faster than commonly used induction hopper systems.
Photo caption: ADAMA, BASF, Corteva Agriscience, Nufarm and Syngenta are now each piloting the closed transfer system easyconnect in selected countries in Europe.
Photo source: BASF