For decades, much of the innovation behind fungicides, herbicides and insecticides was associated with the discovery of new active ingredients. That race continues, but another transformation is gaining momentum: improving how a molecule mixes, remains stable, moves through a nozzle, forms a droplet, reaches its target and ultimately becomes available to do its job. Performance is increasingly about more than the active ingredient itself. It also depends on the engineering used to deliver that active ingredient effectively under real-world application conditions.

The shift is being driven by problems farmers and crop advisers already know well. Herbicide resistance, fungicide resistance, insect resistance, spray drift, volatility, off-target losses, limited penetration and tank-mix compatibility can all affect an application. At the same time, growers face pressure to make every input dollar and field pass count. Our review of market data and formulation technologies shows that companies are increasingly investing in a less visible part of crop protection: the components and delivery systems surrounding the active ingredient.

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Market data help illustrate the scale of that transformation. S&P Global data reviewed for this analysis identify more than 70 formulation types, with the top 10 accounting for 88.4% of the market value covered in 2024. Suspension concentrates, or SCs, led by value at 25.8%, while soluble concentrates, or SLs, represented 24.9% of volume. The underlying database covers more than 16,900 brands and 790 active ingredients across 70 countries, although it represents an estimated 60% to 70% of the global crop protection market.

The Innovation Farmers May Never See Inside the Jug

Formulation is no longer simply a carrier for an active ingredient. Solvents, surfactants, dispersants, emulsifiers and stabilizers can influence critical properties throughout the life of a crop protection product, from stability during storage to what happens when spray droplets reach a leaf. The challenge is to keep the product stable, allow it to mix properly with water, move consistently through application equipment and create conditions that allow the active ingredient to perform as intended once it reaches the target.

For herbicides, that challenge is becoming particularly important as resistant weeds expand and growers face increasing pressure to keep applications on target. S&P Global data reviewed by AgroLatam place herbicides as the largest segment analyzed, accounting for approximately 48% of the market in 2024. SL, EC, SC and WG formulations are among the leading formats, while developers continue working with multiple modes of action, alternative salt forms and delivery technologies designed to address issues including resistance, volatility and spray drift.

This is where droplet engineering becomes increasingly relevant. Every spray contains a spectrum of droplet sizes, and both extremes can create challenges. Very fine droplets generally have greater potential to move away from the intended target, while droplets that are too coarse can compromise coverage in applications where surface coverage is critical. Even after reaching the crop or weed, droplets still face potential losses through evaporation, bounce and runoff, along with the challenge of wetting and penetrating difficult leaf surfaces.

Built-in adjuvant technologies are one area of active development. Technical materials reviewed by AgroLatam describe nonionic surfactants engineered to modify surface tension and influence wetting, spreading and retention. These components can also affect the availability of an active ingredient and its interaction with plant surfaces. But there is no universal formula: the appropriate surfactant system depends on active-ingredient properties, formulation type, mode of action and the characteristics of the target surface.

Source: AgroLatam analysis based on S&P Global market data and technical formulation information reviewed for this story.

For fungicides, the technological challenge looks different. Many active ingredients have limited water solubility, making proper dispersion and physical stability essential. According to S&P Global data reviewed for this story, suspension concentrates represented 40.2% of the fungicide segment analyzed in 2024. Behind those formulations is extensive work involving particle size, viscosity, dispersion and storage stability - properties farmers may never see but that can determine whether a product maintains its intended characteristics before it reaches the sprayer.

One example in the technical materials involves difenoconazole, where different systems were evaluated to stabilize a 400 g/L suspension concentrate. Testing compared appearance, particle size, viscosity and suspension characteristics after formulations were exposed to different storage conditions. The example illustrates an important point: before asking how well a fungicide controls a disease, formulation scientists first have to make sure the active ingredient remains in suitable physical condition from manufacturing through storage and ultimately application.

Research is also examining the interaction between fungicides and surfactant systems. Technical information reviewed by AgroLatam includes experimental work involving DMI and SDHI active ingredients, including prothioconazole and bixafen. Some tests reported improved performance under their specific experimental conditions. Those findings, however, are product- and trial-specific and should not be interpreted as evidence that adding or changing a surfactant will automatically improve every fungicide application across crops, diseases or field conditions.

Encapsulated Insecticides and a New Way to Deliver Active Ingredients

Insecticide formulations reveal another important direction: controlling not only where an active ingredient goes, but also how and when it becomes available. Alongside established EC, SC, WG and WP formulations, capsule suspensions, or CS, have become an important technology. In these systems, an active ingredient can be contained within microscopic structures designed to modify its release profile after application.

S&P Global data examined for our analysis show that capsule suspensions represented 24.2% of the insecticide market covered in 2024, making CS the third-largest formulation format within that segment. Microencapsulation can be used to modify active-ingredient release and, depending on the product, manage certain exposure characteristics. But controlled release is not automatically advantageous in every situation. A slower release profile may fit one use pattern while another pest or application could require faster availability.

Source: AgroLatam analysis based on S&P Global market information and technical materials reviewed for this story.

Another area of development involves solvents and co-formulants designed to influence penetration and active-ingredient availability. Technical material reviewed by AgroLatam includes research involving benzyl alcohol in formulations tested with fungicides, herbicides and other crop protection products in the United States. In 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for benzyl alcohol residues under specified conditions when used as an inert ingredient. Performance claims in the material, however, originate from the developer and should be interpreted accordingly.

The rise of agricultural drones and lower-volume application systems could accelerate formulation innovation even further. Reducing carrier volume per acre increases the concentration of components in the spray solution and can alter compatibility, evaporation, droplet formation, deposition and coverage. This is pushing developers to think about formulations together with the equipment that will ultimately deliver them. Product chemistry, nozzle selection, carrier volume, environmental conditions and application platform increasingly operate as parts of the same precision system.

That trend is particularly relevant for U.S. farmers, who are simultaneously managing resistant weeds and diseases, high crop input costs, application restrictions and increasingly sophisticated equipment. Precision sprayers and emerging aerial technologies can improve how inputs are placed, but their value ultimately depends on whether the product performs under those application conditions. A formulation that works well at one carrier volume, with one water source or application system cannot automatically be assumed to behave identically under another.

The next generation of fungicides, herbicides and insecticides may therefore look less revolutionary from the outside than a completely new active ingredient, while still representing an important technological shift. With resistance increasing and every field operation carrying significant input, equipment and labor costs, the challenge is no longer simply finding molecules capable of controlling a weed, disease or insect. It is getting a greater share of every labeled application to the target and enabling it to perform the job it was intended to do.

That is where formulation technology is becoming strategically important. The active ingredient remains at the heart of crop protection, but the science surrounding it is increasingly determining how effectively that ingredient performs in the field. For growers, the question is ultimately practical and economic: how much of every dollar invested in an application actually reaches the target and contributes to control?