Introduction

Green revolution has changed the face of modern agriculture by providing better

varieties of crop & technology. But still the demand for food grain is increasing at a faster

pace compared to its production. Moreover, a larger chunk of crop yield is lost due to

diseases, weeds & insects. To meet the demand of growing population, the population rich

and land hungry countries are at the verge of increasing the production that has increased the

pressure on agricultural land. Hence to increase the nutrient content in the soil and protect the

crops against pests and non-essential herbs, agro-chemicals have proved to be an effective

remedy. Today the agro-chemical market is more than $100 billion and is expected to grow at

a decent place in the next 10years. In the new millennium, the challenges of agriculture sector

are quite different from those met in the previous decades. The enormous pressure to produce

more food from less land with shrinking nutritional resources is a tough task for the farmers.

To keep up the momentum of growth a careful economic evaluation of inputs like seeds,

fertilizers, irrigation sources, pesticides etc are of considerable importance. Economically

sound & timely availability and application of plant protection methods are the need of the

hour to get the calculated return from the standing crop.

Asia and its economy largely depend on agriculture. With this the question of food

security of the increasing population has emerged. In future, the problems of dwindling food

security and environment sustainability will aggravate further because the total food

production has remained constant over the last two decades with growing environmental and

socio-economical challenges. Use of bio fuel is encouraging a war between food and fuel.

Production of bio fuel is leading to decrease in land availability for food production creating

scarcity of food. India needs to produce an additional 5 million tonnes per year for the next

10 years to meet its food grain needs of 300 million tonnes by 2020. Food grain production

requirement will be around 350 million tons by year 2040. It is highly challenging task but it

is a necessity and, to succeed, the plant protection industry will have to play a vital role. India

can achieve this food grain production of 300 to 350 million tons by adopting high yielding

seeds, balanced use of fertilizers, proper use of irrigation and high quality plant protection.

Pest and Pesticides

A pest is an insect, animal, weed, fungus, or any other infections that destroy plants,

food etc. The word pest comes from the Latin word “pestis” which includes an animal or a

plant that occurs in such abundance as to present a distinct threat, economically or medically

to man or his interest. Pests are the organisms that diminish the value of resources of human

important. In India, crops are affected by over 200 major insects, 100 plant diseases,

hundreds of weeds and other nematodes, harmful birds, rodents and the likes. Approximately,

30% of Indian crop yield potential is being lost due to insects, diseases and weeds which in

terms of quantity would mean 30 million tons of food grain. The value of total loss has been

placed at Rs. 50,000 million, represented by 18% of the gross national agricultural products.

The pest wise losses are as follows:

Pest Loss of food grains (%)

Weeds 28

Diseases 25

Insects 23

Storage 10

Rodents 8

Others 6

Source: Ministry of Environment & Forest data (May, 2007)

Man’s war against pest is perennial and almost eternal. No agriculture can be

practiced in an insect and disease free environment. Pests and diseases are parts of natural

processes that are going on since the beginning of the universe, and the biological process of

evolution. Total elimination of pest is not possible and is no longer the aim of pesticide

application. The control of pest is the objective and designated as plant protection. The

efficient producers wants to keep loss due to pests to a minimum pest control is the chemistry

of human survival. While pest control is one of the imperative prerequisites, it bears also

higher degree of negative impact on environment. Since the chemicals that control the pest

commonly known as pesticides. Pesticides are basically toxic and persistence; it can enter in

food chain and causes injury to human health. It also destroys the diversity and food web and

causes ecological imbalance. Pest control therefore needs regulation on the interest of human

health and environment.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has defined the term of pesticide as:

Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying or

controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease, unwanted species of

plants or animals causing harm during or otherwise interfering with the production,

processing, storage, transport or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood and

wood products or animal feedstuffs, or substances which may be administered to animals for

the control of insects, arachnids or other pests in or on their bodies. The term includes

substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant or agent for

thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit.

Generally pesticides are used in three sectors viz. agriculture, public health and

consumer use. The consumption of pesticides in india is about 600 gms. / hectare, where as

that of developed countries touching 3000 gms. / hectare. There is a wide range of pesticides

found used in non-agriculture situation such as industries, public health and for a number of

purpose in the home.

Kinds of Pesticides

Pesticides are divided into five broader groups, namely,

1. Insecticides,

2. Herbicides/ Weedicides,

3. Fungicides,

4. Fumigants,

5. Rodenticides/ others.

World Pesticide industry

Global pesticide use increased rapidly after world war II, as wartime technological

advances were applied to peace time production.

First DDT and then an array of other organochlorine and organophosphate

compounds were introduced in US agriculture and quickly thereafter into farming

system around the world. Chemical manufacturing became “ the premier industry of

the US” in the post war period(Perkins, 1982, p.13).

Pesticides sales increased steadily over the ensuing half century, reaching $32 billion

annually by 1997(Agrow, 1998). Soon the entire technology was being heralded as a

“miracle technology”, promising to bring world hunger and disease to an end. In

1948, India imported DDT for malaria control.

The agriculture use of pesticides began a year later, when BHC was imported to

ontrol the locusts (EIW-1996).

The World's Top 10 Agro-Chemical Companies sales (US$ millions) - % of global market

(2007)

RANK NAME OF COMPANY SALES PERCENTAGE

1 Bayer (Germany) $7,458m 19%

2 Syngenta (Switzerland) $7,285m 19%

3 BASF (Germany) $4,297m 11%

4 Dow AgroSciences (USA) $3,779m 10%

5 Monsanto (USA) $3,599m 9%

6 DuPont (USA) $2,369m 6%

7 Makhteshim Agan (Israel) $1,895m 5%

8 Nufarm (Australia) $1,470m 4%

9 Sumitomo Chemical (Japan) $1,209m 3%

10 Arysta Lifescience (Japan) $1,035m 3%

Total $34,396m 89%

The top 10 companies control 89% of the global agrochemical market. 

The worldwide market for agrochemicals was US$38.6 billion in 2007 - up 8.4% over

the previous year.  The top 6 companies accounted for $28.8 billion, or 75% of the

total market. 

Symbiotic Sales: The world's six largest agrochemical manufacturers are also seed

industry giants. Despite sky-rocketing fuel and fertilizer costs, high grain prices

created soaring demand for commercial seeds and pesticides in 2007. After two

decades of sagging sales, the world's largest pesticide companies rebounded last year -

in large part due to the subsidy-driven boom in agrofuel crops.  

In 2007 the four largest pesticide companies (Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, Dow) reported

double-digit sales jumps. 

Pesticide revenues are up in nearly all regions [particularly South America].

Weed killers account for about one-third of the global pesticide market, and

agrochemical giants are ratcheting up R&D on new herbicides and herbicide-tolerant

genes. Monsanto's glyphosate-resistant (Roundup Ready) crops have reigned supreme

on the biotech scene for over a decade - creating a near-monopoly for the company's

Roundup Ready herbicide - which is now off patent. 

According to Chemical & Engineering News, BASF, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow and

DuPont are competing to fill "the glyphosate gap" - a gap that's growing fast because

at least 14 weed species on five continents have developed resistance due to massive

applications of glyphosate. As a result, farmers must employ more toxic chemicals to

kill the resistant weeds.

Indian Agrochemical Industry

India is the fourth largest producer of agrochemicals globally, after United States, Japan and

China. The agrochemicals industry is a significant industry for the Indian economy. The

Indian agrochemicals market grew at a rate of 11% from USD 1.22 billion in FY08 to an

estimated USD 1.36 billion in FY09. India’s agrochemicals consumption is one of the

lowest in the world with per hectare consumption of just 0.58 Kg compared to US (4.5

Kg/ha) and Japan (11 Kg/ha). Indian population is increasing and the per capita size of land

decreasing, the use of pesticides in India has to improve further. Besides increasing in

domestic consumption, the exports by the Indian Agrochemicals Industry can be doubled in

the next four years if proper strategies and sophisticated technologies are adopted by the

industry.

Indian Pesticides Industry    

Agriculture is the lynchpin of the Indian economy. Ensuring food security for more than 1 bn

Indian population with diminishing cultivable land resource is a herculean task. This

necessitates use of high yielding variety of seeds, balance use of fertilisers, judicious use of

quality pesticides along with education to farmers and the use of modern farming techniques.

The production of Indian pesticides industry has almost remained stable at 85,000 MT during

FY08-09. In value terms, the size of the Indian pesticide industry was estimated at Rs.98 bn

for 2008, including exports of Rs.48 bn. Per hectare consumption of pesticide is low in India

at 381 grams when compared to the world average of 500 grams. Low consumption can be

attributed to fragmented land holdings, lower level of irrigation, dependence on monsoons,

low awareness among farmers about the benefits of usage of pesticides etc. India, being a

tropical country, the consumption pattern is also more skewed towards insecticides which

accounted for 62% of the total pesticide consumption in FY08. Rice is the highest pesticides

consuming crop. Of the total pesticides consumption, 25.9% is consumed by rice. Andhra

Pradesh is the highest pesticides consuming state (23%) followed by Punjab & Maharashtra.

India due to its inherent strength of low-cost manufacturing and qualified low-cost manpower

is a net exporter of pesticides to countries such as USA and some European & African

countries. Exports formed 49.5% of total industry turnover in FY08 and have grown at a

Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 29.05% from FY04 to FY08. Prior to 2005,

i.e. in the process patent regime, Indian companies focused on applied research and

concentrated on marketing generic and off-patent products. Due to this, the R&D expense by

Indian companies was lower at approximately 1% of turnover. Global companies focused on

high-end specialty products and dominated the market for patented new molecules. Globally,

pesticides companies spend 8-10% of their turnover on R&D. However, with the onset of the

product patent regime in India since 2005, the Indian companies will need to increase R&D

expense to meet competition from MNCs. Alternatively Indian companies can be competitive

in the area of Contract Research And Manufacturing Services (CRAMS).

Characteristics of Pesticide Industry

Fragmented Structure

As there was no product patent in this industry till 2005, many formulators entered the

market and rendered a fragmented structure to the pesticide industry. The major players in

the Indian market are United Phosphorous Ltd, Bayer Cropscience Ltd, Rallis India Ltd,

Syngenta India, Gharda Chemicals and the top ten players have an 85% market share. Bayer

Cropscience Ltd and Syngenta India Ltd are the market leaders in domestic sales while

United Phosphorous Ltd is the largest exporter of pesticides.

Low Capacity Utilisation

Given the uneven foodgrain production which is highly dependent on irregular rainfall and

increased competition in the export market the production trend of the pesticide industry is

quite irregular. Due to seasonality of demand the manufacturers face low capacity utilisation

because of which they have not been able to take advantage of the economies of scale.

During FY08, the domestic capacity was 146,000 MT whereas production was only 83,000

MT.

Working Capital Intensive

The pesticide industry is working capital-intensive as the seasonal nature of demand for

pesticides forces companies to maintain large inventory levels. Moreover, the farmers

require long credit periods as farmers have little surplus money left for purchasing

pesticides, as pesticides are the last input in agriculture operation.

R&D Requirement

During the process patent regime that existed before 2005, the Indian companies

concentrated on marketing generic and off-patent products; evidently the R&D investment

in the pesticide industry was quite low in India during this time as compared to the global

market. Consequently, about 70% of all pesticides used in India are generics. Even though

the lack of patents deprived the Indian agriculture sector from the benefits of newer and

more effective pesticides, India developed competencies in the generics market and is now a

net exporter of pesticides.

Low Brand Awareness and Price-Sensitive Products

The market for pesticides is highly price-sensitive and less brand conscious as it largely

caters to farmers. However, farmers need to be educated and made aware of the usage and

quality of pesticides. Moreover, due to the prevalence of spurious pesticides in the market,

brand awareness becomes critical for the Indian manufacturers.

Comsumption Trend of Pesticides

Consumption Trend

The pesticide industry in India is self-sufficient as it resorts to imports for meeting only 4%

of domestic consumption. However, pesticide consumption in India is very low which could

be mainly attributed to the factors such as fragmented land holdings, dependence on

monsoons, low awareness among farmers, low level of irrigation etc.

Lack of proper knowledge among farmers and usage of spurious pesticides have hindered

demand for technical grade pesticides in India. Inadequate development of new products has

also affected the demand; however, the need for new products is unavoidable as pests

develop a resistance to chemicals that are used repeatedly. Moreover, usage of genetically-

modified crops like Bt cotton, which has a resistance towards pests, also hampers the

demand for pesticides; in fact, low pesticide consumption can be partly attributed to the

advent of genetically modified (GM) seeds. GM crops can combine both herbicide

resistance and insect resistance in one seed. For example Bt cotton (introduced in 2002)

which is widely used in India is a GM seed which provides high degree of resistance to the

American Bollworm, a major pest in India, thereby reducing pesticide usage.

Segment-Wise Domestic Consumption of Pesticides

In India, insecticides constitute the largest share in domestic consumption followed by

fungicides and herbicides mainly because India’s tropical climate is conducive for the

growth of insects. The higher cultivation of cotton in India has also increased insecticide

consumption because cotton has a high incidence of insect attack. India has one of the

largest areas of land under cultivation for cotton in the world.

State-Wise Demand

Estimation of demand for pesticides is carried out by the state/UTs taking into account

several factors, which include crop production programmes, the targeted area proposed to be

brought under plant protection coverage, the past consumption trends, and the inter-

substitutability for a given pesticide. Besides, the package of practices recommended by

state agricultural universities, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research Institution are

also considered for the estimation. The states/UTs discuss and finalise these estimates during

the zonal/national conference on inputs for kharif and rabi crops that is organised by the

Ministry of Agriculture.

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Gujarat account for more

than half of the total market for pesticides wherein Uttar Pradesh alone consumes around

17% of the total pesticides produced. With the over dependence on a few crops and a few

states, the performance of the industry is very closely linked to the agro-climatic factors

prevailing in these regions.

Demand Drivers

The domestic demand for pesticides is highly seasonal in nature with the demand being

maximum during the kharif season from July to November.

The following factors would drive the demand for pesticides:

• Crop yield: Any effort to increase crop yields to meet the foodgrain requirement is met

with a higher usage of insecticides. The agricultural production is usually raised through

intensive cultivation of land, which implies greater use of high-yielding varieties of seeds,

water and fertilisers. Most of the time, such large-scale production can mean a higher

incidence of pests; thus, pesticides need to be used as yield-saving inputs.

• Farmer awareness: The lack of farmer awareness is one of the main reasons for the

inadequate use of pesticides. Educating farmers about the proper use of pesticides and their

benefits will lead to increase in demand for pesticides. They also have to be updated about

the latest developments in the industry in order to facilitate them to use developed

pesticides. Moreover, the farmers should also be educated about the hazards of spurious

pesticides. Checking the growth of the market for spurious and banned pesticides will also

lead to the growth of the pesticide industry.

• Expansion of crops under the use of pesticides – Pesticides are mostly used on cotton,

wheat and rice crops in India. As a result the industry has not beenable to capture the entire

agricultural market. Proper initiatives to increase the variety of crops under pesticides would

help the industry to achieve a much faster growth rate.

• Availability of Credit: Adequate availability of bank credit to farmers would also lead to

increased use of pesticides.

• Price realisation from crops: If farmers get higher price realisation from crops due to the

use of pesticides, their demand will rise. The higher the price realisation the greater will be

the willingness of the farmers to spend on pesticides.

• Innovative products: With pests developing resistance towards the used variety of

pesticides, there is a need to bring out innovative products. Thus newer forms of pesticides

serve as an important demand driver.

Size of Indian PESTICIDE Industry

The Indian pesticide industry with 85,000 MT of production during FY 07 is nranked

second in Asia (behind China) and twelfth globally. In value terms, the size of the

Indian pesticide industry was estimated at Rs.74 bn for 2007, including export of

Rs.29 bn.

In India, only 36 per cent of the area under cultivation is under pest protection, which

offers the players opportunity to enhance volumes.

Globally, due to consolidation in the industry, the top five global MNCs control

almost 78% of the market. In India, the industry is very fragmented with about 30-40

large manufacturers and 400 formulators.

Ninety percent of the agrochemicals are indigenously produced in the country. With

60 manufacturers of basic molecules, 400 formulations and around 140 product

registrations, India ranks as the second largest manufacturer of technology in Asia,

next only to Japan.

The Indian pesticide scene is dotted with players of all sizes. Be it the multinationals

like Novartis, Rhone-Poulenc Agro, Agrevo, Bayer (India), Syngenta, Monsanto or

the giant Indian companies like Excel Industries, Rallis, United Phosphorus Ltd.,

Searle India or Gharda- there is room for everyone. A few of these are vying for the

international market while some are content with regional umpire. Quite a few

multinationals function as Indian outlet for their parent company and only a few have

ventured into direct production as a backward integration. Interestingly, almost all the

multinationals operating in the Indian crop protection market have a complete Indian

face and are managed by local management under guidance from the mother

company.

Even medium and small players like Bharat Rasayan, Montari Industries, Nagarjuna

and Alchemic Organics find a place in the big picture. More than 400 small scale

unite are engaged in manufacturing of technicals and this sector is also in the

formulation business.

The top ten players command 80 percent of the entire market share. Agro business

accounts for 45 percent of Novartis’s turnover. UPL derives 60 percent of its turnover

from basic agrochemicals and is the largest manufacturer of organophosphates. Crop

protection chemicals account for 32 percent of BASF India’s turnover and 62 percent

of Bayer’s sales. Each player has his own strength to promote its products. Indian

companies like Montari, Rallis, Lupin and Excel are aggressively export oriented.

Indofil deals only in speciality products while Agrevo and Rhone-Poulenc have

dwarfed other players by their sheer size.

The industry is mainly into genetics, as Indian companies are not investing in

discovering new molecules. Of the total market, around 75 percent is accounted for by

insecticides.

The Indian agrochemical industry is cyclical in nature, and July to November are the

peak months.

The consumption pattern is skewed by crop usage. Almost half of the production of

Indian pesticides industry is aimed at cotton crop and a fourth at paddy. Thus, cotton

crop accounts for 40-50 percent of the pesticide consumption; the other main crops

that use pesticides are plantation crops, vegetables and wheat.

India due to its inherent strength of low-cost manufacturing and qualified low-cost

manpower is a net exporter of pesticides to countries such as USA and some

European & African countries. Exports formed 39% of total industry turnover in

FY07 and have grown at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18% from

FY03 to FY07.

The domestic pesticide industry is fragmented and characterised by over capacity, low

capacity utilisation, low investment in R&D and high inventory. The pesticides

industry has grown at a CAGR of around 1.60% during FY03- FY09.

Prior to 2005, i.e. in the process patent regime, Indian companies focused on applied

research and concentrated on marketing generic and off-patent products. Due to this,

the R&D expense by Indian companies was lower at approximately 1% of turnover.

Global companies focused on high-end specialty products and dominated the market

for patented new molecules. However, with the onset of the product patent regime in

India since 2005, the Indian companies will need to increase R&D expense to meet

competition from MNCs. Alternatively; Indian companies can be competitive in the

area of Contract Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS).

The crop protection market in Indian is poised to grow because agricultural

production, which is the main target of the pesticide industry, is bound to grow.

India’s population is likely to cross 1.5 billion in the next five years. If we analyse and

compare the productivity data, we can infer that globally, around 6 million square

miles of agricultural land produces three times and this has been possible because of

plant protection chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and seeds.

Consumption Pattern: INDIAN vs. WORLD

Indian produces 16% of the world’s food grain but using less than 2% pesticides used

world-wide. Hence, there is a good potential of growth. India ranks 10 th in the world

in pesticide consumption, as its total consumption amount to about 500million tonnes.

A report from the industry chamber ASSOCHAM says pesticide consumption in India

is the lowest at 0.4 kg per hectare as against 17kg per hectare of Taiwan, 12 kg in

Japan, 6.6 kg in Korea, 7.0 kg in USA and 2.5 kg in Europe. Low consumption in

India can be attributed to fragmented land holdings, low level of irrigation,

dependence on monsoons, low awareness among farmers about the benefits of usage

of pesticides etc.

The Indian pesticide market is the 12th largest in the world with a value of US$0.6

billion, which is 1.6% of global market pie.

The report titled ‘Pesticide Residues in Indian Food and Agricultural products’

debunks the perception that India is the largest user of pesticides. But it points out that

Indian food & agricultural products contain substantial quantities of pesticide residues

as its farmers make indiscriminate use of agrochemicals in the absence of stronger

farmer training program that can educate them on the right dosage of pesticide usage.

The report also highlights the other reasons for high pesticide residue i.e. the usage of

sub-standard pesticides and wrong advice given to farmers by pesticide dealers.

In countries like USA, Europe, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, pesticide sprays are done

with absolutely scientific methods as the landscape is huge which allows judicious use

of pesticides in proportionate manner.

However, in India things are entirely different and for obtaining higher yields,

indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers go totally unchecked by its farmers.

The recent ban of certain potential pesticides like Endosulphan(Insecicide) &

Paraquat(Herbicid) in India and in other agriculture based countries is aimed to reduce

the soil toxicity and prevent human health hazards in future. This will surely serve as

an opportunity for the pesticides industries world-wide to innovate in terms of new

molecules with better effect on target pests and less toxic & harmful to human and

environment.

Growth of Pesticides in India

Insecticides: Major chunk of the pie

India, being a tropical country, the consumption pattern is skewed towards insecticides which

accounted for 64% of the total pesticide consumption in FY07.

Herbicides- Fastest growing pesticide segment

While insecticide segment continues to be the largest segment in the industry,

herbicide segment is growing rapidly in the market.

With labour cost increasing in rural areas, there is scope for higher growth in the

herbicide segment.

The industry expects that from the present 14 percent share in the total market,

herbicides will grow to a sizeable 35 percent in the next decade.

Weed Management- Influx of new technology

It is estimated that the weed reduce production of certain major field crop like wheat

by 15-30 percent and rice by 30-35 percent. In maize, sorghum, pulses and oilseeds

the damage varies from 18-85 percent.

Both in Tea & Coffee, the weed problem arise largely after the prunning of bushes

when sunlight can reach the ground. In nursery stage also, all plantation crops suffer

badly with weeds. The extent of yield loss due to weed infestation in plantations

varies anywhere between 10-15 percent depending on the level of weed infestation.

The input cost of herbicide comes to Rs. 800-1000/ ha, which varies from state to

state according to the target crops and the capacity of the farmers to use herbicides

under prevailing weed infestation.

It has been observed that weed management technology, based on mechanical

methods or herbicidal techniques, results in 20 percent increase in crop yield at the

maximum.

This indicates as overall increase of production of respective crops without increasing

the cost of operation.

In India, the top six molecules in terms of consumption are:

Isoprpturon,

2-4-D,

Butachlor,

Anilophos,

Paraquat(presently banned),and

Glyphosate.

Problems in marketing latest pesticide formulations

There are lots of problems in switching over from conventional products to the new

ones not only by the Indian farmers but also by farmers around the world as well and

it is a difficult and a slow process.

The reason is not so difficult to study; the new products not only involve high cost but

also the adaptation to their techniques of use can often be complicated.

While the industry is growing increasingly active in developing formulations, it is

also focused on several highly important patented products promising high profit

margins, which are entering the Indian market.

Te industry is geared up by appropriate manufacturing facilities for them. Also, the

Indian market, for its size and scope, has very high number of formulations; the

survival of only a few good formulators is assured in the market.

Various problems faced by Pesticide industry

The pesticide industry is passing through a financial crisis and instability. The primary causes

for this are:

1. Rising costs of inputs,

2. Governmental duties & taxes,

3. Cost of capital,

4. Differential approach of government towards pesticide sector,

5. Constraints imposed by regulatory norms,

6. Cumbersome export registration procedures,

7. Problems of spurious manufacturers & fly-by-night operators.

Problems faced by farmers in pesticide purchase and usage

1. Sub-standard quality of products of local formulators that is available in the market.

2. Non-availability and high cost of credit.

3. Unscrupulous dealings of companies and dealers like selling pesticides with expired

dates etc. The current pesticide consumption stands at around 500million tonnes.

4. The major factor hampering the growth of pesticide consumption in India is the

pattern of farm holdings in India. Nearly, 76 percent of the area under cultivation in

India belongs to small and marginal farmers, whose average land holdings is 0.38

hectare. This farming community cannot afford the high cost of pesticides. The

smaller pack sizes are comparatively costlier than the bigger size. Thus, every time

they buy, they have to pay more, in relative term (Srivastava and Patel, 1990).

5. Farmers lack the knowledge about:

The method of application of pesticides.

How to recognize the pest attack and type of diseases in their crop.

General confusion about the type and quality of pesticides to be used.

Bio-safety concerns

Across India, incidents indicating contamination of food chain with pesticides are

mounting. There have been cases of wild peacocks, grain eating birds dying in

batches of up to a dozen, reduction in honey-bees population etc. The Delhi-based

Centre for Science and Environment in a study reported Endosulfan levels several

times higher than maximum residue limits in vegetables, cow’s milk, water and soil.

Higher bio-safety concerns globally on the use of chemical treatments in crop

protection have led to increased effort in curtailing the level of pesticide residues of

food and application of treatments on crops. This has been significantly achieved by

the use of safer, low-dose and high-value products, several of them as part of the

integrated pest management. As a consequence, several highly hazardous pesticide

molecules were discontinued in use even as new crop protection entities replace them.

In India, there still remains concern about the continuous dependence on organ

chlorines in crop protection, even when they have been phased out in other parts of

the world.

In spite of these concerns, in the developed countries, chemical pesticides are

employed in agriculture in quantities 4 to 24 times higher than those employed in

India without causing any serious health situation that may call for their sharp

reduction.

The low productivity situation in India also needs increasing the use of pesticides per

hectare from the current levels to bring them to the level comparable with those in the

developed countries while adopting the adequate safeguards as being observed there.

Conclusion

The top 20 companies of the world accounts for 85 per cent of the global sales, and

the foremost 10 of them accounts for 75 per cent of the market. This indicates the

dominance of major players in the world pesticides business through their ace

technical human resource and infrastructure for R & D inputs.

The global giants in the industry regard the Indian pesticide market as quite

prospective for their products and significantly favourable destination for

collaboration and investment. Besides, the market serves equally well as an

outsourcing base for products and formulations besides scientific human resource in

large numbers.

For firmer footing in global arena in the near future, Indian industry has no option

but to consider large industrial plants, cutting-edge technology, and downsizing of

manpower and compliance of International Quality standards.

It is expected that the strong fundamentals of the Indian pesticide industry, such as

cheap availability of raw materials, process expertise, low operating costs and R & D

strengths, will attract many foreign companies. This in turn will boost investment in

research, and thus there would seem to be a bright future for agro-chemical

companies in India.

However to boost these industry, the government will need to come up with more

incentives. Smoothing the procedures for registration and export licensing would be

a good place to start.

Pesticides are often considered a quick, easy, and inexpensive solution for controlling weeds

and insect pests in landscapes. However, pesticide use comes at a significant cost. Pesticide

residues are found in soil and air, and in surface and ground water across the nation, and

pesticide uses contribute to the problem. It is hope the world needs these days, for great

agricultural system that feeds the human race is in trouble. The rapid growth in farm output

that defined the late 20th century has slowed to the point that is failing to keep up with the

demand for food, driven by population increase and rising effluence in the once-poor

countries. Calling for the second green revolution, the evergreen revolution or the rainbow

revolution, whichever name be assigned to it, we do need to increase our production levels

considerably. And this is where pesticides come into picture – as those agri-inputs that help

increase production by reducing losses caused by the numerous prevalent pests in terms of

quality as well as quantity. The call of the day is to increase production and reduce losses

and that is exactly what we aim to achieve through the growth of crop-protection industry,

technology and judicious use of pesticides.