Michigan State University (MSU) announced this spring that they have licensed their riboflavin enhanced drift control additive to Adjuvants Plus Inc. The additive has a provisional U.S. patent application filed as of April 3, 2020.
Dicamba drift has been an ongoing problem for a few years now. While dicamba is a great tool that provides excellent broadleaf weed control, under the wrong conditions, a cloud of vapor can migrate off the application site. This could cause sensitive plants in adjoining areas to be damaged.
The licensed technology from MSU to Adjuvant Plus allows the creation of an additive used to reduce the amount of dicamba or other volatile herbicides that enter the vapor phase, without reducing the herbicidal activity of the volatile herbicide that enters inside the plant.
The additive contains riboflavin, which degrades any volatile herbicide that remains on the surface of the plant through a catalyzed sunlight reaction. This process is rapid and occurs within hours of the application.
In addition, neighboring fields of sensitive crops can also be protected by spraying these fields with this additive.
So, what are the benefits?
- Insurance: Formulation protects against herbicide vapor and particle drift and reduces the risk of dicamba or 2,4-D drift onto neighboring fields.
- Dicamba, 2,4-D etc. become of lower-risk and still help control of glyphosate resistant weeds in a trait stack with glyphosate resistance.
- Low cost: the additive will be widely available and cost-effective.
The additive can be applied in three different ways:
- Tank mix with volatile herbicide by the consumer.
- All-in-one premix for use with volatile herbicides.
- Stand-alone pre-treatment for sensitive crops neighboring fields.
