Oils Back to 1. Surfactants Up to Table of Contents Ahead to 3. Fertilizer-based Adjuvants 2. Oils Adjuvants that are primarily oil-based have been gaining in popularity especially for the control of grassy weeds.
Crop oil is a misnomer as the material is actually a derivative of paraffin-based petroleum oil.
Crop oils promote the penetration of a pesticide spray either through a waxy plant cuticle or through the tough chitinous shell of insects. Traditional crop oils are more commonly used in insect and disease control than with herbicides. The purpose of the NIS in this mixture is to emulsify the oil in the spray solution and lower the surface tension of the overall spray solution. Vegetable oils have been less consistent in their performance. The most common method is by esterification of common seed oils such as canola, soybean and cotton.