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Blog: Adjuvants and additives in the era of sustainable spraying applications
08 April 2020
Adjuvants and additives are routinely used by farmers and
growers worldwide, used to enhance the features and benefits
associated with the basic formulation of active ingredients,
raising them to premium levels of efficacy in crop protection
operations. Traditionally they are added with herbicides, however
recently a move to using them in combination with insecticides and
fungicides has become popular too.
Adjuvants are specifically designed to improve the efficiency of
crop protection operations. Tank-mix adjuvants give the
manufacturer of these products, as well as farmers and growers, the
flexibility to optimise the cost-efficiency of spraying.
Developments in both formulation processes and the growth of
biologicals have led to the development of many more sophisticated
products as having 'built-in' adjuvant systems.
The target of adjuvants and additives varies greatly, however
their main purpose is to improve the efficiency of crop protection
products. In 2018, the value of the global agrochemical market was
$ 65.1 bn. It is expected that this market will grow significantly
over the coming years despite the current challenges with regards
to the variety of ingredients, product optimization and sustainable
use. This gives the market for additives and adjuvants a high
growth potential.
As the availability of active ingredients diminishes, the
research and development industry are searching for new ways to
further optimize adjuvants'. There are several examples showing
that major crop protection players are trying to improve their
active ingredients, but also extend their products lifecycle and
production lines. For example, glyphosate is very responsive to a
number of different adjuvants, so as glyphosate continues to grow
due to a lack of alternatives, so too does the use of associated
adjuvants.
Recent patent applications show that adjuvants are being used to
enable a more sustainable use of herbicides, with focus on
improving the spraying procedure, reducing the risk of off-target
vapour movement or spray drift. There is specific interest in
adjuvants' potential to improve the accuracy and efficacy of spray
application by drones or UAV's, which could reduce the potential
harmful exposure of operators, bystanders, non-target organisms and
features of the landscape, especially water bodies.
For fungicides and insecticides, interesting new adjuvants that
overcome the challenge of phytotoxicity are being developed. These
novel products aim to improve droplet adhesion and increase
retention to the leaves of plants. This application would enable a
smaller volume of agrochemical to be used alongside a spraying
application that isn't reliant on high volumes of water.
With the use of additives and adjuvants offering companies
numerous benefits, such as cost savings and environmentally
friendly credentials, the market is expected to grow from $2.8
billion in 2016 to $3.6 billion by 2021 at a CAGR of 5.5%. Despite
the toxicity issues associated with glyphosate, we expect much of
the market growth to be attributed to this active ingredient,
partly because of the markets responsiveness and partly because of
its huge sales volume.
Figure: Market shares of herbicides in 2018 (Phillips
McDougall)
Technology is also expected to play a big role with the use of
spraying drones that has already started in Japan, China and S.
Korea. New regulations in Europe and N. America are coming that
will enable their use, as well as for the products authorized to be
used with spraying drones.
As the global crop protection market become more sophisticated,
so too will the market for adjuvants and additives, and new complex
and differentiated adjuvant/additive targets will secure the
markets growth.
Our latest special report
Adjuvants and Additives 2020 details a 143 page review of the
varying adjuvant technologies for herbicides, fungicides and
insecticides as well as reviewing how major crop protection
companies are using these.