Which term describes ingredients added to improve performance but not directly killing pests?

• A. Active ingredients
• B. Adjuvants
• C. Inert ingredients
• D. Surfactants

Answer: (B)

Adjuvants are additives in pesticide formulations that boost how well the product performs without being pesticidal themselves. They improve coverage and adhesion to plant surfaces, aid spreading, enhance stability and tank-mix compatibility, and can increase rainfastness. The substances that actually kill or disable pests are the active ingredients, so adjuvants serve to make those actives work better rather than doing the killing themselves. Surfactants are a common type of adjuvant that lowers surface tension to improve spreading, still not acting as killers on their own. Inert ingredients, meanwhile, are other components that don’t have pesticidal activity, so they aren’t defined by improving performance in the same way adjuvants do.