597764 Disclosed is a method of reducing the amount of water required to apply an acidic active agent (such as citric acid, lactic acid, and buffered phosphorous acid or combinations thereof) to a crop, the method including the steps of: mixing the acidic active agent with an acid stable surfactant and water, wherein the acid stable surfactant is a composition including a silicon containing compound having the formula: (R1)(R2)(R3)Si-R4-Si(R5)(R6)(R7), wherein R1, R2, R3, R5 and R6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of 1 to 6 monovalent hydrocarbon radicals, aryl, and a hydrocarbon group of 7 to 10 carbons containing an aryl group R4 is a hydrocarbon group of 1 to 3 carbons R7 is an alkyleneoxide group of the general formula: R8(C2H4O)d(C3H6O)e(C4H8O)fR9, where R8 is a divalent linear or branched hydrocarbon radical having the structure: -CH2-CH(R10)(R11)gO-, where R10 is H or methyl R11 is a divalent alkyl radical of 1 to 6 carbons where the subscript g is 0 or 1 R9 is selected from the group consisting of H, monovalent hydrocarbon radicals of 1 to 6 carbon atoms and acetyl, subject to the limitation that the subscripts d, e and f are zero or positive and satisfy the following relationships: 2 ? d + e + f ? 20 with d ? 2 and applying the mixture, including acid stable surfactant, acidic active agent and water to the crop using less than 2800 litres of water per hectare of the crop. Also disclosed is a composition for use in the above method including an acidic active agent of pH< 5 prior to inclusion in the composition, an acid stable surfactant and water, wherein the volume ratio of acidic active agent to water is between 1 :200 and 6:200, wherein the acid stable surfactant is a composition including a silicon containing compound having the formula: (R1)(R2)(R3)Si-R4-Si(R5)(R6)(R7) as defined above.
