Cérience, a specialist in adjuvants for over 20 years

Adjuvants have been a strategic area for Cérience for over 20 years, and their usefulness is now obvious: they optimise the effectiveness of a crop protection product.
In extreme conditions (wind, water, drought, etc.), less than 10% of the active substances in a spray mixture reach their target. 

An adjuvant is a preparation with no phytopharmaceutical activity that is added to crop protection products to enhance their physical, chemical and biological properties. 
The purpose of using an adjuvant is to improve the conditions of use and/or the effectiveness of the treatment with which it is associated.
Adjuvants are classified into three categories, according to their chemical nature:

• Wetting agents (surface-active compounds)
• Oils (mineral or vegetable oils)
• Sulphates (or salts; most often an aqueous solution of ammonium sulphate).

In addition, adjuvants must be assessed by ANSES and approved for the defined uses:

• Adjuvants for fungicide sprays
• Adjuvants for herbicidal sprays
• Adjuvants for insecticide sprays
• Adjuvants for growth promoters

Adjuvants are chosen according to various criteria:

• Climatic conditions
• The crop: cereals, rape, beet, etc.
• Target: weeds or diseases.
• The crop protection products applied (formulation, dose and type).
• The dose is determined according to the volume of water.

Cérience is a member of the AFA (French association for adjuvants). This interprofessional body has carried out a farmer study on adjuvants. Here are the results of this study:

Today, over 70% of farmers use adjuvants in their treatment strategies.
These farmers use adjuvants in their sprays for several reasons: 

• To improve the effectiveness of treatment programmes
• To maintain treatment performance in difficult conditions or when reducing the doses of plant protection products applied.
• Maximised return on investment

What's more, 63% of the farmers questioned said that they use adjuvants on the advice of a distribution technician (cooperative or trade).
The market is estimated at around 15.2 million hectares, with sales of €35 million and 38 adjuvants on the market.
Cérience is currently the 2nd largest player in the adjuvants market.

The main aim of adjuvants is to reduce this loss, with the first action taking place directly in the tank: chelating, emulsifying, acidifying or anti-foaming functions to correct hard water or compatibility problems with products or poorly formulated products.
Adjuvants can also play a role during spraying by acting to limit drift due to climatic conditions (water, wind, hygrometry, temperature).
There is also sometimes a loss on the target (plant) due to its stage, exposure or wettability. Adjuvants therefore ensure that the spray mixture remains on the plant.

The various functions of adjuvants are as follows:

• Rétention : These adjuvants help to keep the droplets on the target at the moment of impact. The rebound effect of the droplets is reduced, as is run-off onto the soil.
• Humectancy: Humectant adjuvants have the property of retaining moisture in the air, which prevents dehydration of the active ingredients.
• Penetration: Penetrating adjuvants facilitate penetration of the product into the soil or cuticle, either by breaking it down (oils) or by temporary disruption (wetting agents).

A penetrating adjuvant should be chosen for products with systemic molecules.

• Spreading: Spreading adjuvants reduce the surface tension on the surface of drops and allow them to spread.
• Emulsifying: These emulsifying adjuvants improve the dissolving of products in water and the compatibility of mixtures.
• Limiting drift: Anti-drift adjuvants homogenise droplet size and limit the finest droplets at risk of drift (<100 microns).
  A complete range of adjuvants.

A complete range of adjuvants

20 years ago, we launched our first range of adjuvants, comprising 2 adjuvants. Today, our range has been expanded to include 6 complementary adjuvants to meet the needs of the market: 

In the oils category, we have :

• MIX-IN : the best-selling vegetable oil on the market, which can be used in herbicide sprays and is recognised for improving the penetration of the herbicide into the weed.
   
• VELEZIA : paraffinic mineral oil, used in herbicide sprays to improve penetration by breaking down the cuticle.

We have a wide and complementary range of wetting agents:

• PIXIES : approved in 2015, this is Cérience's first biosourced adjuvant. It is made from coconut oil and corn starch, with an innovative active ingredient: alkyl polyglucoside. It can be used with all root or foliar herbicides. PIXIES has a triple action: it optimises spray retention, accelerates penetration into the soil and the plant and delays the drying of the droplets.
   
• CANTOR: an innovative, versatile adjuvant based on ethoxylated soya oil. It can be used with herbicide, fungicide and insecticide sprays without crop restrictions. It is UAB for the last 2 uses. CANTOR is recognised for its ability to limit drift, emulsion, penetration and retention.
   
• EVERTY : This is an organic adjuvant, suitable for use in organic farming, based on food-grade rapeseed oil. It can be used with insecticides for field crops, field vegetables, fruit crops and vegetables under cover. EVERTY limits drift, reduces leaching and improves penetration of the associated product.

Finally, we have an ammonium sulphate approved as an adjuvant:

• SLIDER : this is a synergist adjuvant for post-emergence herbicides to be used in combination with another adjuvant. This adjuvant has the property of retaining air and limiting the drying out of drops on the leaf.

Outlook: we are in the approval phase for a new adjuvant, and we are developing new products which are currently being tested. 

Find out more about our range of spray adjuvants.