‘Pulverization Adjuvants’ laboratory receives investment

The lack of mandatory registration by official bodies for adjuvants for agricultural use led the Spraying Adjuvants Program to invest in expanding its advanced laboratory, located in the São Paulo city of Jundiaí. The research center announces that it is now ready to carry out quality analyzes and certify the functionality of products of this kind manufactured and sold in Brazil, according to the program coordinator, scientific researcher Hamilton Ramos.

According to Ramos, to date, more than 10 companies have already made formal inquiries to the program in search of technical support in the area, especially after a large agricultural cooperative announced that it will start demanding reports from its suppliers that attest to the functionality of adjuvants.

According to the researcher, the advanced laboratory also has technological infrastructure to assist agricultural adjuvant manufacturers in developing new formulations and repositioning existing formulations.

“Adjuvants have spreading, humectant or penetrating effects, for example. Poorly formulated products interfere with the properties of agrochemicals and put the farmer's high investments in controlling diseases, pests and weeds at risk”, explains Ramos.

“On the other hand, adequate adjuvants are fundamental to agriculture. They enhance the effectiveness of agrochemicals, transferring productivity and profitability. The central issue is the selection of products that ‘deliver’ the functionalities described on the packaging”, continues Ramos.

The researcher reinforces that the fact that agricultural adjuvants have been exempted from the mandatory official registration, unlike what happens with agrochemicals, should make the market itself find self-regulation mechanisms, with a view to preserving the credibility of products and commercial brands in line. “Certification of functionality benefits the manufacturer, the farmer and agribusiness”, concludes Hamilton Ramos.

The Spray Adjuvants program is the result of a partnership between the private sector and the Engineering and Automation Center (CEA), of the Agronomic Institute (IAC), an agency of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo.