Effect of adjuvant additive on physical properties of working fluids and parameters of agricultural spraying

In accordance with the European Union Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of plant
protection products, ways are being sought to reduce the impact of pesticides on the environment
and reduce their doses per hectare while maintaining safety [1].
Integrated protection assumes the use of all available methods and techniques that are to ensure
safe and effective development of protected plants, without causing worsening of economic effects,
with simultaneous care for the protection of the natural environment and human health.
One of the ways to improve the quality of plant protection treatments and the physical properties of
the working fluid is the use of adjuvants (boosters). These substances are used together with plant
protection products or liquid fertilizers. Boosters improve the effectiveness of spraying by evening
out droplet size and reducing their spray drift, they reduce the surface tension of the working fluid,
which allows for larger coverage of the leaf blade and, therefore, better absorption of the fluid into
plant cells. An additional advantage of adjuvants is the possibility of combining different plant
protection products and using them during a single treatment, which has a significant impact on
reducing the risk of working fluid drift. Adding an adjuvant to the tank mix can significantly affect the
application of the spray; this effect depends on the properties of this adjuvant and its concentrations
in solution [2, 3].
Pesticide drift is the main problem in the spraying process, and the main reason of this phenomenon
is the size of the droplets produced by the nozzle. In order to obtain the optimum spray quality, it is
important to choose the right nozzle and keep the droplet size within the appropriate range. Adding
adjuvants to the spray solution is usually intended to improve the spraying process by changing the
spray properties during application [4].
The process of spraying liquids is well-known, but various solutions should be sought to unify the
physicochemical parameters of sprayed liquids used in agriculture, so that safe pesticides application
can be carried out regardless of the water used and the nozzles employed. Such a solution may be
the use of adjuvants, which will affect the standardization of the tank mix, regardless of the water
obtained from various intakes.