Section III. PESTICIDE APPLICATION CALCULATIONS
2-12. DETERMINING REQUIREMENTS
a. General. Mixing and diluting pesticides to required strengths and quantities
is only one step in pest control operations. Before preparing the formulations, we must
determine the quantities and strengths that are required for our particular task. Pest
control operations do not fall within the scope of this subcourse; however, determining
requirements for pesticides will be discussed in this section.
b. Recommendations. Technical Information Memorandum (TIM) 24,
Contingency Pest Management Pocket Guide, has a comprehensive list of
recommended pesticides, strengths, and rates of application for attacking various
insects and other pests. However, the pesticide label itself is the ultimate source of
guidance on pesticide application rates. Depending upon the type of application
(agricultural use; household use; outdoor control of flies, mosquitoes, mites; etc.) the
units of measure may vary.
c.
Requirements. The amount of final formulation depends upon two factors:
(1) The area to be treated.
(2) The rate of application.
d. Computaton. The amount of formulation required is determined by
multiplying the area in acres or square feet (usually in thousands) by the number of
gallons or pounds of final formulation per acre or square feet (1,000 square feet).
2-13. CALCULATING AREAS
a. Area in Square Feet. The area of a given tract of land, household space,
or storage space is determined by multiplying the length by the width. For example, a
field 300 feet long and 150 feet wide contains 45,000 square feet (300 X 150 = 45,000).
If a given pesticide should be applied at the rate of 1 gallon per 1,000 square feet, the
total amount required for this field would be 45 gallons (45,000/1,000 = 45). Obviously,
the above calculation applies only to a rectangle. Other simple formulas for calculating
the areas of common figures follow.
MD0173
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