PESTICIDES In looking for more economical and effective means of applying pesticides, agriculturalists are now focusing on using soybean oil or its methyl esters either as a replacement for petroleum oil in crop oil concentrates, or, in some instances, as a carrier for chemicals. Researchers generally agree that soybean oil has certain advantages over petroleum oils when used as adjuvant. It does not have the toxicity when applied on plants often displayed by petroleum oil. Because it is non-volatile and, in the case of soybean oil polyunsaturated, it also tends to give more uniform coverage and have longer residual effects as it remains longer on the target. Several pesticides formulated with soybean oil or its derivatives are available to the farmers.