With global population expected to increase by nearly 40% during the next 85 years, optimizing arable land and securing food supply is a necessity. Crop protection is essential in safeguarding the world’s food supplies. Currently around 6,000 custom-made crop protection systems are available for combating the threat posed by pests, weeds, fungi, bacteria and viruses.

While their efficiency has evolved considerably in recent decades, the use of chemical crop protectants creates conflict in regard to securing agricultural yields and impact on the environment and society. New options exist to help farmers respect this balance and improve yields.

Adjuvant with a Green Heart

For a crop protectant to be effective at all, it needs auxiliary substances known as adjuvants to transport the active ingredients to the plant. To meet the requirements of modern, sustainable farming, these should avoid potential health or environmental hazards. The goal should be to achieve maximum harvest yields and highest qualities with the smallest possible rational amounts of active ingredients.

Methylated seed oil (MSO), derived from plant oils such as canola, sunflower or soybean oil, is already widely used in agriculture. As an efficient penetration enhancer it ensures rapid penetration of the active ingredient into the leaf interior. MSO must be combined with emulsifiers in order to mix well with the aqueous spray used by farmers. However, many emulsifier combinations used so far are health hazardous or poorly biodegradable, or the natural ingredients prove difficult to combine because of differing solubility. The dose rates of current MSO products are also often relatively high.

Clariant has developed a new biodegradable adjuvant called Synergen OS, which offers a highly versatile solution to this issue. For the first time, it combines the natural-based ingredients MSO and a tailored polyglycerol ester (PGE), an emulsifier with no health or environmental hazard produced from coconut oil. The resulting adjuvant for both crop protection formulations and tank mixes is harmless to health and particularly well-tolerated by plants. It also considerably enhances the performance of the active ingredients with lower dosage.

Low Dosage, Less Pollution

When the adjuvant is added to a crop protectant, its PGE content acts as a mediator between the aqueous and oily components to form an even dispersion or fine emulsion in the spray liquid. The MSO swells the network structure of the topmost layer of the leaf, which becomes more permeable; this enables the active molecules to rapidly penetrate into the leaf. Thus food production yields can be increased while the use of polluting pesticides can be minimized through increased efficacy.

Spray application is also improved. The adjuvant has optimally sized droplets, which ensure the spray lands on the crop and the potential for wind drift is lowered. This means that the distance to neighboring fields and bodies of water can be significantly reduced during application, and the amount of usable farm can therefore be expanded.

Expanding Arable Land and Yield

The discussion of better, and more environmentally responsible, use of agricultural land and increasing yield per hectare is also linked to agricultural films. Plastic films first appeared in agriculture in 1948, and are today used in greenhouses, as mulch films, and in silage production. According to the market research firm Transparency Market Research, in 2012 the global demand for agricultural films was 4.4 million tons, and it is predicted to show a growth rate of 5.7% by 2019.

Cultivation in greenhouses helps achieve the needed increase in yields, and several harvest cycles can be realized each year. The control of temperature, sun radiation and humidity allows for a reduction of supplied water. For example, a tomato grown indoors requires six to eight times less water than a tomato grown outdoors. Compared to exposed outdoor cultivation, fertilizer and pesticide use is also reduced. All good news from an environmental perspective.

The use of films in the agricultural sector, whether indoor or outdoor, improves the world’s nutritional situation. However, these plastic films are sensitive to sun exposure and aggressive pesticides. Aged films mean lots of plastic garbage and pollution if incorrectly disposed of through uncontrolled burning. Also, bees require specific light waves for orientation. If this range of UV radiation is filtered out by the film, the bees’ mobility and thus pollination are impaired. The priority is to optimize the resistance of these films and increase their lifetime.

Bee-Friendly Agro-Films

Film producers can now take advantage of an innovative amino ether HALS technology from Clariant, which offers not only high UV protection but also strong resistance to pesticides. Furthermore, products are available that do not filter out UV rays needed by bees.

Hostavin NOW presents a step forward from conventional hindered amine light stabilizer (HALS) technology, which is deactivated by agrochemicals. It can be directly added during the production process of agricultural films, saving production costs. It becomes firmly embedded in the film and cannot be released into the environment, and does not cause obnoxious odors or vapors during production.

The finished films demonstrate a significantly higher resistance against aggressive pesticides, strong sun exposure and high temperatures compared to films produced with conventional HALS. Compliance with standards, such as the CEPLA Directive, with a film lifespan of three years and the use of over 3,000 pcm sulfur as pesticide, not only lowers the environmental effect caused by films thanks to a significantly reduced need for replacement, but also saves time and energy.

Specialty chemicals companies will continue to support farmers in improving yields with minimal environmental effect.