SBIR-STTR Award

Problem and Market Opportunity Herbicide drift is the off-target movement of herbicides from the site of application. Drift damagessensitive crops such as soybeans cotton tomatoes etc. and causes farmers to incur financial lossesranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. For instance millions of acres of soybeanshave been destroyed in the past few years due to drift of dicamba an effective but highly volatileherbicide. Volatile herbicide chemistries and non-eco-friendly synthetic adjuvants call for theinvestigation of innovative technologies that are effective in reducing both particle and vapor drift ofherbicides under a variety of environmental conditions. CelluDot LLC addresses this problem with anovel biopolymer adjuvant technology that keeps herbicides at the site of their intended use. Growingdemand ofagricultural adjuvants a $3.1 billion market combined with an urgent need for a solutionthat lets farmers continue using dicamba makes it an opportune time for the introduction of an EPA- compliant and eco-friendly vapor drift reducing technology.Project Objectives and R&D PlanThis Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to demonstrate proof-of-concept ofusing nanocellulose-based adjuvants (NAs) as effective combined drift reducing agents (DRA) andvolatility reducing agents (VRA) to prevent the formation of easily windborne droplets and to reducethe volatility of herbicides respectively while maintaining efficacy and plants' intake. The projectsets the following objectives to accomplish our R&D plan: 1) determine volatilization rates of NAswhen used in combination with dicamba by testing vapor pressure of the formulation in thetemperature range of 75-120 °F 2) test different parameters such as application pressure and nozzletype under greenhouse conditions to minimize spray drift and maximize efficacy by balancingdroplet size distribution and coverage 3) evaluate the response of a model weed species (e.g.kochia) vis- -vis efficacy of NA formulations and 4)assess volatility via post application injury onnon-genetically modified (GM) soybean as crop model via low tunnel field trials.Anticipated Results and Potential Commercial ApplicationsThrough Phase I research we anticipate validating our NA as a differentiated product with combinedDRA and VRA capabilities reducing drift of commercial dicamba while maintaining herbicidalactivity and improving formulation coverage with an overall cost comparable to that of existingadjuvants $3-5 per acre. When proven successful this technology will benefit all stakeholders in theecosystem including farmers and agrochemical companies and will have significant socioeconomicand environmental impacts. NA will enable farmers growing GM crops to continue using dicambawithout worrying about the financial and legal implications associated with the herbicide drifting toneighboring farms and damaging non-GM or any sensitive crops and landscapes thus restoring andmaintaining the social fabric of the farming community and boosting agricultural productivity. Inaddition this technology could be adopted by small to larger agrochemical companies and adjuvantmanufacturers currently facing product bans and restrictions to abide by EPA rules.