MX2008003540A - Pesticide and/or herbicide compositions and methods of their use - Google Patents

Abstract

A pesticide or herbicide composition that is either a sprayable formulation or an aqueous concentrate which is dilutable to form a sprayable formulation comprising, water containing therein, i) at least one pesticide or herbicide active and ii) a spray drift control agent comprising at least one water-soluble cationic polymer that has been formed from ethylenically unsaturated monomers and iii) at least one cationic surfactant. The composition can be used to treat a crop area or an area of land.

Description

COMPOSITIONS PESTICIDES AND / OR HERBICIDES AND METHODS OF USE The present invention relates to pesticidal compositions and / or herbicides that include these compositions, which are sprayed and contain at least one pesticide and / or herbicide and exhibit an improved efficacy test and / or herb control. In the case of systemic herbicides a much greater absorption by the plants is observed. Also included are aqueous concentrates that can be used to prepare spray application compositions. The invention also provides a method for treating a harvest area employing the compositions of the invention. It is well known in agriculture to apply various agricultural chemicals or agrochemicals in crop areas, by spray. The growing areas can be crop areas, which can be very large or smaller harvest areas such as those in greenhouses. Agrochemicals applied as sprays include fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Herbicides and pesticides can be supplied to the farmer in various forms, for example, net liquids, aqueous solutions, aqueous dispersions or slurries of herbicides or solid pesticides. It is the normal practice for The manufacturer will supply the farmer with the herbicide or pesticide in the form of a net liquid or as a high activity solution or sludge. The usual way to apply herbicides or pesticides to an area of land would be by sprinkling. Various systems have been designed for convenient dosing of herbicides or pesticides. Spray pumps are well known for spraying water from a spray manifold on the land area or harvest area and designed so that the concentrated herbicide or pesticide can be dosed into the pump, mixed with water before spraying . During the spraying of herbicides and pesticides it is common to apply anti-current or anti-drift agents in order to avoid the formation of fine droplets that can be dragged beyond the intended area to be treated. Without the use of anti-current agents the use of herbicides and pesticides would be ineffective, first of all because there would be an inadequate treatment of the land and harvest areas intended to treat and secondly a strange dew, if it is dragged beyond The intended treatment area, for example, may be harmful to other crops, soil layers and water. It is usual to combine the anti-current agent and either with the water that is fed to the spray pumps or to apply it directly to the spray pumps, usually in or shortly after the mixing zone where the water is mixed with the herbicide or pesticide. It is important that the spray stream chemical is dosed correctly to ensure that the foreign spray does not form under dosing or through underdosing or over dosing of the spray angle is very narrow resulting in a non-uniform distribution of the herbicide or fertilizer. Polymers of acrylamide and other ethylenically unsaturated monomers have been used as anti-current agents. In general it has been accepted that polymers which give optimum dew-current control are already non-ionic (for example acrylamide homopolymer) or have a relatively low anion content (for example 5 to 30% by weight) and also have high intrinsic viscosity relative, for example approximately 6 dl / g. These polymers tend to form viscous aqueous solutions unless they are used at low concentration. The normal practice is that the polymer powder or reverse phase emulsion form is mixed with water directly in the spray tank to form an aqueous polymer solution. However, this has the problem that the polymers of Emulsion can be difficult to activate in this situation and polymer powders take a long time to dissolve. Sometimes it is necessary to use more polymer as a result of inefficient dissolution of the polymer. Usually, to minimize the problems with dissolution, it would be usual to use polymers of intrinsic viscosity in the range of 6 to 15 dl / g. Typically, water containing pesticide or herbicide will comprise polymer at a concentration exceeding 0.05% by weight. Canadian Patent 1023264 (Vartiak) discloses aqueous spray formulations diluted using polymers in the form of reverse phase emulsions to an aqueous system containing pesticides or herbicides and surfactants to prepare spray formulations. The patent of the U.S.A. Number 6534563 (Bergeron) describes formulations comprising pesticides or agents for controlling the growth of plants. The plant protection formulations can be used in the presence of an aqueous solution and applied by spray conventionally on the plant to be treated. For some applications, it is usual to combine two or more agrochemicals. For example, in the application of herbicides, especially systemic herbicides, it is usual to combine the treatment with a fertilizer, such as, for example, ammonium sulfate (AMS = ammonium sulphate). The fertilizer stimulates unwanted plant growth by causing them to absorb much more water, along with the herbicide through the root system. This ensures a more efficient absorption and distribution of the herbicide through the plant. In this case, the fertilizer can be considered as an adjuvant since it increases the effectiveness of the herbicide. In this way a fertilizer used in combination with a herbicide is called a herbicidal adjuvant. Anti-current agents or polymeric anti-deposition agents used with herbicides such as glyphosate tend to be added to the spray tank as a separate component to the herbicidal formulation. The addition of these polymers directly in a pesticidal or herbicidal formulation tends to be less favorable for a number of reasons. In general, high concentrations of polymeric materials may be incompatible, both with the surfactant and the pesticide or herbicide in aqueous concentrates. In addition, the polymer may not be sufficiently soluble in concentrates that contain high concentrations of pesticide / herbicide and surfactant. In addition, due to the low activity of conventional polymers, it is usually necessary to add the Polymers at high concentrations and in an aqueous concentrate would generally not be possible without first reducing the active level of pesticide and / or herbicide or the level of surfactant. Another disadvantage is that they tend to increase the viscosity of the formulations and this may not be acceptable. WO-A-00/26160 overcomes some other disadvantages of conventional formulations. This document describes an agrochemical liquid concentrate containing herbicide or pesticide and a compound adjuvant soluble in inorganic water, in an amount of at least 10% by weight. The concentrate includes an anti-current agent, which is an anionic polymer soluble in water in an amount of up to 1.9% by weight based on the weight of the concentrate. The concentrate will be diluted in a spray tank usually at least 30 times, for example at least 50 times, to form a spray composition. The systemic herbicide glyphosate is described as an example of an agrochemical. This composition provides significant improvements to reduce spray current. An article by Mickey R. Brigance with title, "Effect of Polyacrylamide Formulations on Bioefficacy of Glyphosate" (Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Adjuvants for Agrochemicals, 8 to 12 November 2004 (ISBN No. 1-92 0-01716-X)), describes the evaluation of glyphosate spray herbicide compositions and the improvement by polyacrylamides in simple and multifunctional tank mix formulations. The study found that glyphosate formulations of higher surfactant loading showed lower increases in polyacrylamide inclusion effectiveness and that glyphosate formulations with very low or no surfactants showed a greater efficiency increase. This study considers current suppression by reducing fine droplets and reducing the bounce or bounce of drops for herbicidal formulations. The patent of the U.S.A. No. 5,525,575 (Chamberlain) describes an aqueous concentrate which may contain polymers. However, the polymer must have low molecular weight and preferably is such that its presence in compositions does not substantially affect the spray pattern in the composition. U.S. Patent Application 0503152.1 (internal file of agent number AG / 322371 / P1), unpublished at the priority date of the present application, discloses a spray-applied foliar food composition, comprising, water containing: i) at least one nutrient of foliar food plants, ii) 40 to 1000 ppm of at least one water-soluble polymer, and iii) 40 to 5000 ppm of at least one surfactant. This disclosure discloses a composition that provides acceptable or improved droplet rebound and rebound flow and at the same time provides a significant reduction in droplet runoff. The patent of the U.S.A. Number 5,525,575 describes the incorporation of polymers in pesticidal compositions or herbicides, in order to improve the performance of the active agents. It is stated that the polymer can improve the transport of the active agent through the cell wall of the plant. The polymers described all exhibit intrinsic viscosity of less than 3 dl / g. Polymers of this molecular weight will not reduce the spray current. Copolymers of acrylamide with dimethyl amino ethyl acrylate (quaternary salt of methylchloride) are mentioned, but it is stated that the acrylamide content of these materials should be greater than 80%. We have found that these formulations tend to give inadequate current control and droplet bounce control. The patent of the U.S.A. No. 6,288,010 discloses the use of anionic polymer in concentrated salts, primarily ammonium sulfate. The polymers mentioned will not be easily incorporated into glyphosate formulations. The patent of the U.S.A. No. 2004 0058821 refers to the use of anionic and nonionic polymers, either as additives within a tank mix or pesticide formulations. The compatibility of the polymer is improved by co-formulating the polymer with a salt, usually ammonium sulfate. The patent of the U.S.A. No. 2001 0034304 refers to the addition of polymeric deposition agents within a pesticide. Mention is specifically made of cationic guar gum and / or polyacrylamides which are exemplified as anionic acrylamide polymers. The example describes compositions comprising high levels of polymer and employing salts such as ammonium sulfate, in order to achieve a stable formulation. The exemplified formulations appear to be saturated with little possibility for the glyphosate formulation to include additional surfactant. The patent of the U.S.A. No. 2004 0211234 describes similar compositions. The patent of the U.S.A. No. 6,210,696 is related to low molecular weight copolymers of dimethyl amino ethyl acrylate with water soluble monomers such as alkyl acrylates, to stabilize dispersions of oil. The polymers described will be unsuitable as anti-current agents due to their low solubility in water and low molecular weight. There is still a need to provide a pesticidal or herbicidal formulation that provides significantly improved spray current control. It would also be convenient to provide a composition that allows improved deposition and penetration of the active agent (s) while at the same time improving the spray current control. In addition, prior art formulations in general can not be formulated at concentrations that give control of droplet bounce and that at the same time adequately control the deposition. Normally high levels of surfactant need to be included in the formulation to provide any balance of droplet bounce and deposition control. According to the present information we provide a pesticidal or herbicidal composition which is an aqueous concentrate which is diluted to form a spray application formulation, comprising, water containing, i) at least one pesticidal or herbicidal active agent and ii) a spray current control agent comprising a spray current control agent comprising at least one water-soluble cationic polymer that has been formed from ethylenically unsaturated monomers and iii) at least one cationic surfactant. In a further aspect of the present invention, we also provide a method for treating a harvest area or a land area with a pesticide or herbicide, which comprises providing an aqueous concentrate, the aqueous concentrate comprises water and contains therein, i) at least one pesticidal or herbicidal active agent and ii) a spray current control agent comprising at least one water-soluble cationic polymer that is has formed from ethylenically unsaturated monomers and iii) at least one cationic surfactant, dilute the aqueous concentrate in a spray tank to form a spray application formulation and then distribute the spray application over the harvest area or an area of ground. We have found that the inclusion of water-soluble cationic polymers in formulationpesticide or herbicide, significantly reduces the losses of spray formulation. In addition, the composition reduces droplet bounce and maximizes pesticide or herbicide deposition, especially when surfactants are included in the formulation. This leads to improve the effectiveness of the pesticide or herbicide. We have found that even low levels of the cationic polymer optionally with low levels of surfactant provide excellent droplet bounce control. In general, the herbicide or pesticide composition of the present invention is provided as an aqueous concentrate. This aqueous concentrate is then diluted to make the spray application formulation which can then be sprayed in a harvest area or an area of land to be treated. In general, the aqueous concentrate is diluted 20 to 100 times to give the desired concentration of pesticide and / or herbicide and also the desired concentration of cationic polymer. Alternatively, the pesticide or herbicide may initially be provided as an aqueous concentrate, optionally containing surfactant, and this is diluted to constitute the spray application formulation in which the cationic polymer is combined before spraying. Cationic polymers can be added directly to the spray tank, either as a solution of aqueous material, inverse emulsion or as a dispersion of partially dehydrated polymer in oil (liquid dispersion product). The composition includes at least one surfactant. The exact selection of surfactant will depend on the particular pesticide or herbicide used, the types of plants, the polymer selection and the location. Effective results are obtained when the surfactant is chosen from the group consisting of tallow amines ethoxylates, alkyl phenol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxylates and alkyl poly glucosides. The surfactant should at least be cationic or at least one free base amine that can be made cationic. A particularly preferred surfactant is a tallow amine ethoxylate. Usually tallow amine ethoxylate is 15 to 20 ethoxylate units per mole, although 5 mole ethoxylates can also be used. Although tallow amines can be considered as non-ionic in some circumstances, they will be cationic in the aqueous concentrates of the present invention and the dilute aqueous spray formulations formed therein. The surfactant can be added to the formulation in order to improve the effectiveness of the pesticide or herbicide. Typically the surfactant improves the penetration of the active ingredient through the surface of the leaf that is important for systemic herbicides. The surfactant also helps the deposition. In general, when the surfactant is included in the composition, in the aqueous concentrate it will generally be present in an amount of up to 15% by weight of the total composition. Preferably, however, it will be present in the concentrate between 4 and 8 or 9%. By diluting the spray formulation it can contain the surfactant in an amount of up to 1100 ppm and preferably between 300 and 750 ppm. In order to function effectively as a spray current displacement control agent, the cationic polymer at least employed in the present invention will generally be of a sufficient molecular weight to exert an effect on a spray distribution of the formulation for spray application. . This is a polymer of sufficiently high molecular weight to give dew-stream control properties and is not low molecular weight material that can act as a dispersant. Typically, the polymer will have a high molecular weight, for example at least 5 or 6 million and as much as 20 or 30 million or more. Preferably, the cationic polymer will exhibit an intrinsic viscosity of at least 4 dl / g. Plus preferably, the polymer has an intrinsic viscosity of at least 6 dl / g. In this specification intrinsic viscosity is measured by level viscometer suspended at 20 ° C in 1 M sodium chloride buffered to pH 7. Intrinsic polymer viscosity can be determined by preparing an aqueous solution of the polymer (0.5-1% w / w) based on the active polymer content. 2 g of this 0.5-1% polymer solution are diluted to 100 ml in a volumetric flask with 50 ml of sodium chloride solution 2 which is buffered to pH 7.0 (using sodium dihydrogen phosphate 1.56 g and disodium hydrogen phosphate 32.26 g per liter of deionized water) and everything is diluted to the 100 ml mark with deionized water. The intrinsic viscosity of the polymers is measured using a viscometer with suspended level Number 1 at 25 ° C, in buffered saline solution 1. Preferably IV is at least 8 dl / g, more preferably at least 9 dl / g. It can be up to for example 30 dl / g but it is generally found that the optimum combination of low viscosity of the composition and spray current control performance is given by polymers having IV with no more than about 20 or 18 dl / g . Preferably IV is not greater than 16, more preferably not greater than 15 dl / g. Particularly preferred IV ranges are from 9 to 13 dl / g, especially from 10 to 12 dl / g. In the present invention, the water soluble polymer preferably dissolves substantially. That is, the polymer is taken in solution in such a way that no visible solid material remains. The polymer can be prepared by polymerization of a water-soluble monomer or water-soluble monomer mixture. By "water-soluble" it is meant that the water-soluble monomer or water-soluble monomer mixture has a solubility in water of at least 5 g in 100 ml of water. The polymer can be conveniently prepared by any convenient polymerization process. Conveniently, the polymer can be prepared by reverse phase emulsion polymerization, optionally followed by dehydration under reduced pressure and temperature and often referred to as azeotropic dehydration, to form a dispersion of polymer particles in oil. Alternatively, the polymer may be provided in the form of beads by reverse phase suspension polymerization, or as a powder by polymerization in aqueous solution followed by comminution, drying and then milling. The polymers they can be produced as beads by polymerization in suspension or as a water-in-oil emulsion or dispersion by water-in-oil emulsion polymerization, for example according to a process defined by EP-A-150933, EP-A-102760 or EP-A-126528. The polymer can be branched but in general substantially linear and not interlaced. The polymer is typically formed as a water-soluble monomer or mixture of monomers, usually water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer. The cationic content, ie the proportion of cationic monomer in the monomer mixture used to form the polymer, is variable and may be up to 100% by weight, although more highly cationic polymers are more conveniently preferred. Typically, the cationic polymer will comprise at least 50% by weight of cationic monomer more preferably between 60 and 90% by weight. High cationicity polymers can be defined in terms of their cationic charge density. In general it is preferred that the polymers exhibit a cationic charge density of at least 3 mEq / g. Conveniently, the cationic polymers can be prepared from at least one cationic ethylenically unsaturated monomer and optionally one or more monomers ethylenically unsaturated nonionics. Suitable cationic monomers include dialkyl amino alkyl (meth) acrylates (including acid addition salts and quaternary ammonium salts), dialkyl amino alkyl (meth) acrylamides (including acid addition salts and quaternary ammonium salts), di allyl halides di alkyl ammonium. Particularly suitable cationic monomers are, for example, the quaternary salt methyl dimethyl amino ethyl acrylate chloride, the quaternary salt of methyl methyl ethyl methacrylate methyl chloride, acrylamido propyl tri methyl ammonium chloride, methacrylamido propyl tri methyl ammonium chloride and dihydrogen chloride. allyl methyl ammonium. Nonionic monomers include acrylamide, methacrylamide, 2-hydroxy ethyl acrylate and N-vinylpyrrolidone. A particularly preferred polymer is the copolymer of acrylamide with the quaternary ammonium salt of methyl chloride of di-methyl amino ethyl acrylate. When the composition of the present invention is an aqueous concentrate, at least one cationic polymer may be present in an amount between 0.1 and 2% by weight of the total composition. Preferably although particularly effective results are found when the amount of cationic polymer or polymers are included in the aqueous concentrate is between 0.5 and 0.9% by weight. When the formulation is diluted to make a spray application formation, typically the amount of polymer present will be in the range between 25 and 150 ppm by weight. Any suitable pesticide or herbicide can be employed in the present invention. Preferred herbicidal compositions include at least one active systemic herbicide such as glyphosate or glufosinate. Other examples of herbicides include phenoxy-based herbicides such as salt 2, 4-D amine. Preferably, the systemic herbicide is glyphosate. In general glyphosate will be present as isopropylamine, potassium, ammonium or other salts. Typically, the pesticide or herbicide at least will be present in the aqueous concentrate in an amount of between 200 and 700 g / 1. In the diluted formulation for spray application, the pesticide or herbicide will typically be present in an amount between 4 and 35 g / 1. Particularly preferred aqueous concentrates comprise glyphosate as an active herbicidal ingredient together with water-soluble acrylamide cationic polymers with cationic monomers such as di-methyl amino-ethyl acrylate quaternized with methyl chloride. Glyphosate usually includes the iso-propyl amine salt in aqueous solution. The preferred formulation includes surfactant and this is preferably tallow amine ethoxylate (usually 15 to 20 per mole ethoxylate). The following examples illustrate the invention. Example 1 A cationic polymer is tested in combination with TAE 20 mol ethoxylate surfactant (AU391) supplied by Adjuvants Unlimited Inc. Polymer A is a bead copolymer prepared by suspension polymerization from a monomer mixture containing 80% di methyl amino ethyl acrylate (DMAEA) quaternized with methyl chloride and 20% acrylamide with IV 7 dl / g. Four test formulations are prepared with the following general recipe in order to determine the effect of the various constituents: IPA glyphosate technical grade (62% active) = 66.0 g Polymer A = 0 or 0.75 g Surfactant (TAE 20 mol ethoxylate) = 0 or 7 g Water = 100 g The above test formulations are diluted at a rate of 1% v / v for spraying. This gives an equivalent concentration of active to the proportion of use in the field. Reduced droplet bounce is demonstrated using the following method. A Hewlett Packard 214B pulse generator connected to an electric piezo disk connected to a flat-tipped glass nozzle with an aperture of 500 μ ?? is used to generate droplets of ~ 1000 μp? in diameter. A glass nozzle tip is mounted 20 cm above the blade surface, which adjusts at an angle of 45 degrees. Each droplet is allowed to fall 20 cm before impact with a pea leaf (variety used are Lincoln pea leaves). The distance that each droplet bounces on impact is recorded and this number is used to determine the percent of droplets that deviate from an average-sized sheet (2.5 cm in length). 50 droplets are tested for each test solution using 5 individual sheets (10 drops per sheet). Improved mass deposition / reduced spray current of the formulations is demonstrated by measuring the mass of the composition that is lost when the solution is sprayed under standard conditions. Test solutions are sprayed in a wind tunnel (dimensions: length 3 m, height 2 m, width 2.5 m). A spray head containing a 110 ° flat fan nozzle is mounted 60 cm above the floor. Wind at 9.65 kph (6 mph) (measured at the center of the tunnel) is generated using a fan placed at a distance of 10 cm behind the nozzle. A collection device of 2.5 by 3 m is located centrally under the spray head in such a way that a length of 2.8 m of the collection device is in the wind line of the nozzle. The solution to be tested is placed in a brass spray can connected to the spray head. The can, pipe and spray head are then weighed. A source of compressed air is used to expel the test solution through the nozzle at a pressure of 3 bars on a previously weighed collection device. The test solutions are sprayed for 135 seconds. The can and the spray head are then weighed again in order to determine the weight of the expelled solution. The collection device is folded and carefully reweighed. The mass of the solution collected afterwards is calculated and used to determine the dew loss due to current. The results are illustrated in Table 1. Table 1 The results show that: the polymer and the surfactant reduce the rebound of droplets in a similar proportion the combination of surfactant and polymer virtually eliminates the rebound of droplets the inclusion in the surfactant only increases the current and the mass of active lost the inclusion of polymer decreases the amount of spray current and increases the mass of deposited active Example 2 Two additional polymers are tested as co-formulants within glyphosate formulations either alone or in combination with TAE 20. Polymer B is a powder grade copolymer, prepared by solution polymerization of a monomer mixture containing 80% di methyl amino ethyl acrylate (DMAEA) quaternized with methyl chloride and 20% acrylamide with IV 7 dl / g.

Polymer C powder grade copolymer containing 90% di-methyl amino ethyl acrylate (DMAEA) quaternized with methyl chloride and 10% acrylamide with IV 8.5 dl / g. The test methods described in Example 1 are employed. The polymers are included at a rate of 0.75% and the surfactant is included in a proportion of 7%. All formulations are tested at a dilution ratio of 1% v / v. The results are illustrated in Table 2. Table 2 The results show that: the combination of the surfactant and polymer, virtually eliminates rebound of droplets, the inclusion of polymer decreases the amount of spray current and increases the mass of deposited active. Example 3 Two additional surfactants are tested in combination with Polymer A. Sebum amine ethoxylate (TAE) 5 moles of ethoxylate supplied by Adjuvants Unlimited Inc (AU393) Alkyl poly glycoside (APG) surfactant supplied by Cognis Inc. (Agrimul 2069) The test methods described in Example 1 are employed. The polymer is included at a ratio of 0.75% and the TAE surfactant is included at a ratio of 7%, the APG surfactant is included at a ratio of 4% solids (8% as supplied as a 50% concentrate). The results are illustrated in Table 3. Table 3 The results show that: the combination of surfactant and polymer reduces droplet bounce - the inclusion of polymer decreases the amount of spray current and increases the mass of deposited asset. Two polymers are tested in field tests in combination with a TAE surfactant. Formulations One and Two contain 7.0% w / w TAE (approximately half of the standard commercial inclusion ratio for TAE) and 15% w / w TAE (the standard commercial proportion of standardized TAE) respectively, and are tested for comparative purposes. Formulation Two contains Polymer D, a solid grade polyacrylamide homopolymer with an anionic content of 0% and an intrinsic viscosity of 16 dl / g, at a rate of 0.13% w / w with TAE at 7.0% w / w in the final formulation. The level of the polymer in the formulation is limited by the compatibility of the various components in the concentrated herbicidal formulation. The results are illustrated for comparative purposes. Formulation Four contains Polymer B in a ratio of 0.7% w / w with TAE at 7.0% w / w in the final formulation. The above formulations contain 480 g / 1 of glyphosate, present as the isopropyl amine salt. A random batch design of four replicates is treated with 1,168 liters / hectare (1 pint / acre) of each 480 g / 1 of test glyphosate formulation. The lots are estimated visually by the percentage control of 2 herbs: Abutilón theophrasti and corregüela (morning glory), blue aguinaldo or morning glory. The evaluation for corregüela is carried out 20 days after the treatment. The lots received a second glyphosate treatment 43 after the initial treatment to control the abutilon leaf. The visual evaluation for the abutilón takes place 14 days after the second treatment. The results of the test are summarized below: Table 4 The results show that the effectiveness of a formulation of low content of SAD, is lower than the formulation of high content of SAD in the absence of polymer. Polymer D improves the performance of the herbicide on SAD only at a low proportion; however the formulation was not as effective as the high proportion of TAE. Polymer C in combination with a low proportion of TAE gave similar control to TAE at a full ratio.

Claims (10)

1. CLAIMS 1. A pesticidal or herbicidal composition that is an aqueous concentrate that is diluted to form a spray application formulation, characterized in that it comprises: water containing: i) at least one pesticide or active herbicide and ii) an agent for controlling dew stream, comprising at least one water-soluble cationic polymer that has been formed from ethylenically unsaturated monomers and iii) at least one cationic surfactant.
2. 2. A composition according to claim 1, characterized in that the surfactant at least is present in an amount of up to 15% by weight of the total composition.
3. 3. A composition according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the at least one cationic polymer exhibits an intrinsic viscosity of at least 4 dl / g.
4. 4. A composition according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the cationic polymer exhibits a cationic charge density of at least 3 mEq / g and / or is formed of at least 50% by weight of cationic monomer repeating units.
5. 5. A composition in accordance with any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the cationic polymer is formed from at least one ethylenically unsaturated cationic monomer and optionally a non-ionic monomer.
6. 6. A composition according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it is an aqueous concentrate wherein at least one cationic polymer is present in an amount between 0.1 and 2% by weight of the total composition.
7. 7. A composition according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it is a spray application formulation in which at least one cationic polymer is present in an amount between 25 and 150 ppm by weight of the total composition.
8. 8. A composition according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises at least one systemic active herbicide, preferably glyphosate.
9. 9. A composition according to any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that at least one pesticide or herbicide is present in an amount of between 50 and 700 g / l.
10. 10. A method for treating a harvest area or an area of land with a pesticide or herbicide, comprising provide an aqueous concentrate, the aqueous concentrate comprises water and therein contains: i) at least one active pesticide or herbicide and ii) a spray current control agent, comprising at least one water-soluble cationic polymer that has been formed starting from ethylenically unsaturated monomers and iii) at least one cationic surfactant, diluting the aqueous concentrate in a spray tank to form a spray application formulation and then distributing the spray application formulation over the harvest area or area of the soil .