Manufacturing and Production

Agrochemical Formulation and Packaging

A crop protection product has to deliver a small mass of active ingredient onto a leaf, remain stable in a hot store for two seasons and be handled safely by a farmer who may not read the label. This course covers formulating for all of that. Delegates work through active ingredient properties and the formulation types they permit: emulsifiable concentrates, suspension concentrates, wettable powders, water dispersible granules and capsule suspensions. Adjuvants, surfactants and the wetting and spreading they provide are covered. Manufacturing follows across milling, dispersion, emulsification and granulation, with particle size as the property that governs performance. Physical stability testing is addressed, including suspensibility, emulsion stability and heat storage. Container selection and closure integrity are covered. Labelling and regulatory registration requirements follow. Operator exposure and safe handling are addressed directly. Effluent and container disposal are covered. The course closes on batch quality control and on investigating a field performance complaint.