Ashland's Super Wetting Platform: Breakthrough Technology Easy-wet™ 300n Leads New Direction in Agrochemicals and Drives Sustainable Agriculture

Editor’s Note: Just a year ago, Ashland launched seven exciting, new technology platforms aligned to its core businesses that garnered widespread attention. Recently, AgroPages conducted an exclusive interview with Jean J. Gulka, Crop Care Business Director at Ashland. In this interview, he details its breakthrough multifunctional super wetting agent platform, particularly the agriculture-focused easy-wet™ 300n product. This biodegradable, silicone-free, nonionic wetting agent not only enhances pesticide application efficiency but also reduces drift while ensuring thorough coverage of active ingredients on leaf surfaces. As one of Ashland's seven technology platforms, this product demonstrates the company's firm commitment to the agricultural market, offering new solutions for sustainable agricultural development worldwide.

Jean J. Gulka, Crop Care Business Director at Ashland

AgroPages:  Why should manufacturers take the time to learn about the new technology platforms from Ashland? 

Jean J. Gulka: Just a year ago, Ashland launched seven exciting, new technology platforms aligned to our core businesses that extend to secondary markets with new and differentiated capabilities to unlock organic growth for us and for our customers worldwide. These platform solutions bring ″new to the world,″ sustainable innovations, offering choice to customers and consumers in markets such as agriculture / crop care, personal care, pharmaceutical, architectural coatings and more. Our technology platforms enable customers to reshape global megatrends and respond to various regulatory landscapes. If you aren’t familiar with them or the capabilities, you should contact us to meet and learn more.

AgroPages: Tell me about the Ashland super wetting platform. Why is this technology considered ″breakthrough″ and ″new to the market″?

Jean J. Gulka: Ashland’s super wetting agents’ platform uses unique, proprietary technology to deliver high-value performance on various surfaces in multiple markets. It gives customers precise control of composition with the ability to easily adjust ratios. These ″tunable″ agents are water soluble, yielding no waste and are biodegradable. These super wetting agents (SWAs) do more than upgrade customer capabilities. They deliver high-value performance across multiple markets that can help unlock growth the world over. 

In agriculture / crop care, Ashland offers new superior leaf wetting capabilities, low phytotoxicity, increased pesticide contact- all in ways that are more sustainable and silicone-free. The technology is tunable and adaptable for each application, following their Regulatory requirements For example in coatings on all types of substrates, whether you need superior metal wetting, defect-free film, or no-foaming additives, our platform technology provides high-performance to address these issues. If you want to explore replacing the benchmark wetting agent in injectables or deliver high purity for biologics or enhance drug solubility/stability, Ashland super wetting agents are catalysts for next generation formulation opportunities.  And in personal care, Ashland super wetting agents can have an equally profound impact on skin care as an excellent silicone replacement, biodegradable emulsifier, and active/fragrance solubilizer. 

So, you see, this exciting technology platform can answer the most complex challenges customers face in a variety of markets and can be customized for each customer’s precise need.

AgroPages:  Can you tell me about your new launch for helping formulators and retail farmers grow their business?

Jean J. Gulka: Easy-wet™ 300n is a new, biodegradable, nonionic wetting agent designed for a wide range of crops, including corn, soy, wheat, watermelon, and florals. Free of silicone and featuring low-foaming properties, easy-wet™ 300n reduces spray drift and ensures thorough coverage of active ingredients across leaf surfaces. This wetting agent enhances crop formulations with superior wettability at lower concentrations, improving processing efficiency and performance. 

Developed using proprietary, patented technology, easy-wet™ 300n wetting agent is highly effective in helping farmers control drift by reducing water surface tension, which improves pesticide adhesion and delivery. It is non-phytotoxic and compatible with a range of pesticide mixes, making it ideal for enhancing crop protection and yield. Certified biodegradable per OECD standards, easy-wet™ 300n supports sustainable agricultural practices needed to improve crop protection and maximize yield.

AgroPages:  Is Ashland committed to the agriculture / crop care market?

Jean J. Gulka: Ashland is committed to the agriculture / crop care market. Ashland's latest platform innovation, easy-wet™ 300n wetting agent, exemplifies the company's commitment to advancing agricultural solutions. Introduced as one of seven new technology platforms, this super wetting agent offers a water-soluble, biodegradable formulation, empowering farmers and crop protection professionals with cutting-edge tools to boost efficacy and crop yield while aligning with sustainability goals.

The dynamic nature of Ashland’s super wetter’s platform means its use and continued evolution will have a compound impact on a wide range of markets, consumers and cultures. That wide range enables our customers to rethink formulations in such diverse industries and provide unique opportunities to expand and evolve product portfolios over time. 

As new capabilities are uncovered and applications knowledge increases, we expect our super wetting agents to become a powerhouse platform for generations of new products. 

If readers want to learn more or request a sample, they should visit our webpage and fill out a contact us form.

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