Paraquat is applied for weed control, to trigger crops to shed leaves (defoliant), to speed up crop maturation, as well as to dry out plants to prepare fields for the next crop (desiccant). It’s used on a range of crops, such as corn, soybeans, bananas, cotton, pineapples, orchard crops, and more.
Example uses of paraquat across various crops:
- on corn, soybeans and rice as pre-planting weed control
- on bananas, coffee, palm oil, orchard crops and tea as post-emergent weed control
- on cotton and potatoes as a pre-harvest defoliant
- on soybeans as a pre-harvest desiccant
- on pineapples and soybeans as a post-harvest desiccant
The most common use of paraquat we hear about from UK supermarkets is on pineapples in Costa Rica. It is used on pineapple crops after the fruit has been harvested to speed up the decomposition of waste foliage to prevent stable fly, a livestock pest, from laying eggs and using it as a breeding site.