Pre-harvest crop desiccation refers to the application of an agent to a crop just before harvest to kill the leaves and/or plants so that the crop dries out from environmental conditions ("dry-down") more quickly and evenly.[1][2][3] In agriculture, the term desiccant is applied to an agent that promotes dry down, thus the agents used are not chemical desiccants, rather they are herbicides and/or defoliants used to artificially accelerate the drying of plant tissues.[4] Desiccation of crops through the use of herbicides is practiced worldwide on a variety of food and non-food crops.