Plant protecting and regulating compositions – Plant growth regulating compositions – Designated nonactive ingredient containing
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-02
2001-07-03
Clardy, S. Mark (Department: 1616)
Plant protecting and regulating compositions
Plant growth regulating compositions
Designated nonactive ingredient containing
C424S409000, C424S489000, C514S952000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06255254
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to new concentrated compositions comprising at least 2 agriculturally-active materials, to the use of these concentrated compositions in the treatment of plants and to a containerization system comprising such a composition.
Many agriculturally-active materials are used with the aim of obtaining better results and better yields of crops.
In the present invention, the term agriculturally-active materials is understood to mean any kind of active material used in agriculture (including cultivation of gardens and green spaces) such as plant protection agents, agrochemical products, pesticides, growth regulators or plant nutrition agents. The pesticides are more particularly herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, nematocides and acaricides.
The majority of these active materials are manufactured and marketed in the form of concentrated compositions which are then applied by the farmer in the form of compositions which have been diluted with water, after having mixed the said concentrated compositions with water in the tank of a spray device for pesticidal treatment.
Concentrated compositions for dilution with water are provided in various forms well known to those skilled in the art. A particularly advantageous form for the user, that is to say the farmer, is presentation as dispersible granules.
The term dispersible granule is understood to mean a solid and cohesive agglomerate of constituent particles, the said particles having a size between 1 and 20 &mgr;m, which, after mixing with water, disintegrates or disperses to give a homogeneous and stable suspension. Within the meaning of the present invention, a dispersible granule does not denote a granule which, applied as such, while dry, to the soil, can however disintegrate at the end of a certain time spent in the environment. Presentation as a dispersible granule offers to the user a great convenience of use which makes it very desirable. The preparation of these dispersible granules is generally carried out from wettable powders which have the same chemical composition as the granules and whose particle size characteristics are those defined above for the constituent particles of the granules. These wettable powders are moistened, shaped and finally dried. This operation leads directly to the formation of moist granules, which it is then advisable to dry in order to obtain marketable granules.
Moreover, many agriculturally-active materials only destroy a portion of the harmful species against which the farmer wishes to protect his crop. For example, in the case of a herbicidal treatment, a given active material can only provide for the destruction of weeds of graminaceous type, or else only provide for the destruction of weeds of dicotyledonous type, or alternatively provide for the destruction of an adventitious plant against which the other active materials are without effect.
The farmer must therefore frequently resort to the simultaneous application of a number of active materials in order to solve his specific plant protection treatment problem.
Now, the relative importance of the harmful species present in the same population is capable of varying widely according to the geographic location of the cultivated area to be treated, so that it is necessary for the farmer to adapt the relative amounts of the active materials which he applies and to spray a diluted composition comprising the active materials according to a well-determined ratio.
The farmer can, with this aim, resort to the practice described as “at the time of use” or “tank-mix”, that is to say to mixing a number of concentrated compositions, each containing a single active material, with the water contained in the tank of a sprayer. Such a practice is not, however, without danger. In effect, due to problems of compatibility between the concentrated compositions in the tank of the spraying device, application on the cultivated area of the active materials may not be homogeneous, which leads to the presence, on certain parts of the field, of an excessive amount of active materials and, in contrast, the presence on other parts of the field of an insufficient amount of active materials. This can be reflected now by phytotoxicity, now by absence of effectiveness.
The farmer can also, with the same aim of making his plant protection treatment better suited to the relative importance of the harmful species present on the cultivated area, use marketed ready-to-use concentrated compositions known under the name “ready mix”. In this case, the availability of a product which leads to a homogeneous application of the active materials is provided for. However, the relative importance of the active materials in this product is set by the manufacturer and can be very far from that which the relative importance of the harmful species present in the population of harmful species in the area of the farmer would make necessary. In order to overcome this disadvantage, the manufacturer may make available to farmers a number of concentrated compositions combining the same active materials in different ratios.
The manufacture of a large number of such concentrated compositions, which makes it more convenient for the farmer to employ dispersible granules, leads, however, to a certain number of disadvantages and difficulties for the manufacturer.
In fact, the manufacture of dispersible granules requires particularly fine and sensitive controlling, for lack of which powder agglomerates or granules are obtained whose size lies outside the specification which the manufacturer wishes to observe. The granulation of a number of wettable powders comprising the same active materials at different contents, necessary for obtaining the corresponding dispersible granules, thus multiplies these difficult process controls for the manufacturer.
The granulation stage of a wettable powder must then be followed, on completion and before any new use of the apparatus, in other words at each change in manufacturing class, by a complete cleaning of the apparatus, made necessary by the presence of residual agglomerates of moist powder which adhere to the walls. When it is necessary to produce many dispersible granules comprising the same active materials at different contents, the category changes and the number of cleanings which result therefrom are accordingly necessarily multiplied.
Finally, the existence of a large number of products comprising the same active materials at different contents requires particularly significant corresponding stock control and monitoring work on the part of the manufacturer.
An aim of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the known concentrated compositions.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide a concentrated composition suited to the specific plant protection problem of the farmer.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide a solid concentrated composition in which the air-borne particles content is reduced.
Another aim of the present invention is to make possible improved stock control by the manufacturer.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide concentrated pesticidal compositions which are easier to manufacture.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide concentrated pesticidal compositions whose manufacture is easier to control.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide concentrated pesticidal compositions whose manufacture is faster, due to the reduction in the number of changes in classes.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide a new containerization system comprising plant protection agents having one or a number of the following advantages:
contact of the agrochemical product with the user or the manufacturer or the handler of the product is avoided.
the agrochemical product is left in contact with the water where it must be dispersed and/or dissolved, avoiding accidental contact of concentrated product either with the environment or with human beings or animals.
the agrochemical product can be provided in units having a predetermined amount of active ma
Bossy Alain
Graber Gerard
Aventis CropScience SA
Clardy S. Mark
Morgan & Finnegan , LLP
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