Pesticide remains a winning solution to prevent crop losses, which undeniably makes improved quality food available at affordable rates. In spite of that, using pesticides ineffectively may compromise food safety and environmental problems.
Pesticide consists of two main ingredients: active and inert. Active ingredients play the main role in controlling pests. The product’s label must identify the name and weight percentage of the active ingredients. However, active ingredients, in their unformulated state, are ineffective in controlling pests as they may be chemically unstable. This is where inert ingredients play their role to improve effectiveness, storage, and handling safety.
Primarily, inert ingredients are solvents and carriers that aid the delivery of active ingredients to the target pest. Inert ingredients can help active ingredients enter the leaf surface by acting as a solvent and protecting pesticides from sunlight exposure that may lead to degradation.
Get to Know Pesticide Formulation and Its Advantages
As technology advances, more pesticide formulation rose to prominence, including dry, liquid, dual-character, and household formulations. One of the most popular conventional pesticide formulation is Emulsifiable Concentrate (EC), which is a blend of pesticides with emulsifiers and adjuvants dispersed in the volatile oil. There are several advantages of using Emulsifiable Concentrate: easy handling, improved bio-efficacy, inflammability, and little visible residue on plants.
Meanwhile, in the newer trend pesticide formulation, Suspension Concentrate (SC) or known as flowable is considered a formulation that is low in cost as it uses water as a filler. Suspension Concentrate is easy to handle, suitable for many active ingredients, seldom burns plant foliage, and leaves no dust.
While Suspension Concentrate suspends the active ingredients in water, Oil Dispersant (OD) formulation suspends them in oil. Oil Dispersant is an “adjuvanted” formulation, as it does not require additional adjuvants prior to application. Its composition already contains mineral or vegetable oil and emulsifiers. Therefore, Oil Dispersant is more environmentally friendly, safe, effective, and has long-term stability.
Finding Your Best Formulation
Before selecting the right formulation, manufacturers need to do a thorough analysis of the habits of the pests, type of surface, equipment eligibility, runoff or drift potential, applicator training, and safety. Manufacturers should also recognize that environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, pH, light, and bacteria may impact the active ingredients.
Aside from pesticide formulation, there are also several principles to consider prior to using pesticides. The first one is complying with the usage recommendation, getting a permit from the government, and ensuring the usage has minimum effects on the farmers, consumers, and the environment.
If Oil Dispersant is the desired formulation, using a biodegradable filler made from renewable sources like green solvent can be a sustainable and non-hazardous alternative compared to conventional solvents. It acts as both a solvent and adjuvant, making cost-saving possible for manufacturers.
Choosing the right formulation for pesticides is a crucial management decision that may impact profitability, safety, environmental quality, and customer satisfaction. Click here to find your solution.
