Essential ingredients to help feed the world

Each day, farmers around the world are faced with tough questions: How can higher quantities of food be produced for a growing population? How can depleted soil be rejuvenated for reuse? What farming methods can we implement to keep our business sustainable?

A new farming management concept that has become essential for farmers to tackle these issues is known as “precision agriculture.” The goal is to make farming more efficient by increasing yield and reducing costs. It has been enabled by the advent of technologies including, GPS guidance, sensors, robotics, drones and autonomous vehicles – and adjuvants play a crucial role.

“Precision agriculture aims to reduce the use of pesticides, which also leads to a growing need for the formulation aids and adjuvants that we supply,” said Dr. Turgut Battal, Global Technical Marketing Manager at Nouryon. “There are several countries that have already set targets for reducing pesticide use. At Nouryon, we consider calls for reduced pesticide use as new development opportunities for our adjuvant applications. Most adjuvants are surfactants and they enhance the efficacy of pesticides. We believe the reduction in pesticide use will require more and ‘higher-performing’ adjuvants in order to compensate for the lack of pesticides in use.”

The excessive use of pesticides is one of the causes of high crop and soil pressure. With precision agriculture, farmers can administer chemicals only when and where needed and protect crops more efficiently.

As climate change discussions intensify, Jon Staley, Marketing Director for Agriculture Specialties at Nouryon believes there will be an increasing need to make farming more sustainable, and precision agriculture will play a big role in this. “Farming practices will change tremendously over the next 10 years, which will result in reduced pesticide use, reduced water consumption and improved crop yield per hectare of land.”

Want to know more about precision agriculture? View this report from the European Parliamentary Research Service.

Want to know more about our range of adjuvants that lead to more sustainable and eco-friendly farming? See how Nouryon can cater to farmers’ specific needs.