Adjuvants Uncovered Episode 3: The Future of Adjuvant Research and Development
27 November 2025 As the agricultural industry evolves toward more sustainable and precise crop production, adjuvants and inerts are taking center stage. The third segment of AgriBusiness Global’s Adjuvants Uncovered webinar series brought together three experts to discuss where research and development are headed over the next five years: Andrea Alquicira, Agro Market Manager for the Americas at Evonik; Terry Abbott, Senior Product Portfolio Manager for Adjuvants at Adjuvants Unlimited and Chairman of the CPDA; and Dr. Ruifei Wang, Scientist, Research & Development – Agricultural and Food, at Nouryon.
Their discussion revealed an industry in transition, one that is balancing the growing demand for biological products, navigating regulatory pressures, and exploring how advanced technologies can redefine efficiency and efficacy in the field.
Easier Pathways for Innovation
According to Wang, adjuvants are benefiting from an innovation pathway that is often simpler and more adaptable than that of conventional pesticides.
“Developing new pesticides is too costly and too time-consuming,” he said. “It’s relatively easier to find real innovation and evolution on the adjuvant side.”
That flexibility allows companies to experiment with new surfactant combinations and better understand their interactions with plants and the environment. As Wang noted, this growing understanding is helping researchers connect the dots to ensure active ingredients are delivered at the right time and in the right place, maximizing performance while minimizing waste.
Growing Opportunities Amid Change
Abbott echoed that optimism, pointing to several forces driving demand for adjuvants. As biologicals, fungicides, and insecticides continue to expand their share of crop protection programs, adjuvants will play a critical role in ensuring their success.
“A big part of it is the adjuvant added to the tank,” Abbott explained. “We’re not going to overcome resistance. The pesticide is doing the work, but a dead weed doesn’t reproduce. We need to make sure we’re getting a thorough kill, so weeds don’t have a chance to develop tolerance or resistance.”
He also highlighted several trends in reshaping the market: reduced pesticide-use mandates, increasing resistance pressures, and the rapid evolution of application technologies. New spray systems and pulse-modulated sprayers, for instance, require researchers to reevaluate how adjuvants behave under different mechanical conditions. “We need to understand how mechanical inputs affect the mechanisms of the adjuvant,” Abbott said. “There’s a lot of good challenges ahead. It’s what I call job security.”
Balancing Formulation Complexity
As crop protection products become more sophisticated, formulation chemistry is growing increasingly complex. Alquicira noted that companies are working to ensure that adjuvants can support these evolving formulations. “Having more active ingredients in your tank mix makes it a little more challenging to find the right adjuvant that makes everything work harmoniously,” she said.
With regulatory and market pressures pushing the industry toward more sustainable and environmentally friendly products, Alquicira sees a bright future for adjuvants. “There’s a lot of opportunity to really contribute to the biological space,” she added.
Technology, Regulation, and the Next Frontier
Looking ahead, the panelists agreed that technologies such as artificial intelligence and precision agriculture will continue to shape the future of adjuvant R&D. AI-driven modeling and data analytics are already helping researchers predict compatibility issues, optimize droplet behavior, and design more targeted formulations for specific crops or environmental conditions.
At the same time, regulatory deadlines, particularly the phase-out of microplastics in formulations, are creating new incentives for innovation. Companies are under increasing pressure to identify bio-based, biodegradable, or otherwise sustainable alternatives that still meet performance expectations in the field.
Toward Smarter, Greener Performance
From enhancing the efficiency of biologicals to supporting reduced-chemistry systems, adjuvants are evolving from supporting actors to key enablers of agricultural innovation. As Abbott put it, even as chemistry options narrow, “there’s only so much head space in a jug,” and the surfactant package that holds everything together will become even more critical.
For researchers and product developers, that means smarter, greener, and more technologically integrated adjuvant systems are no longer optional: they’re essential to the future of crop protection.
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