The arable lands have been shrinking and is expected to lessen in coming years as well, reason being ever rising population worldwide. However, the adequate and sufficient use of crop protection will lead to enhance the yields per hectare. The crop protection industry is slowly innovating and coming up with the molecules that would be more environment friendly and will see increased usage of crop protection chemical. Agrochemicals are substances manufactured through chemical or biochemical processes containing the active ingredient in a definite concentration along with materials, which improve its performance and increase safety. For application, these are diluted with water in recommended doses and applied on seeds, soil, irrigation water and crops to prevent the damages from pests. There are broadly 5 categories of crop protection products viz. insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, bio pesticides and others including nematocides and rodenticides. Major crop losses due to non-usage of pesticides were about 17.5% of the yield amounting to INR 9000 Cr per annum. It is estimated that the present food grain production can jump from 3 trillion to 4 trillion by adequate usage of crop protection products. Crop protection industry is a holds it importance in the Indian economy as it provides important inputs for the agriculture sector to improve crop performance. With increasing population, demand for food grains is increasing at a faster pace as compared to its production and this indicates the important role of the agrochemicals industry. In addition, every year significant amount of crop yield is lost due to low usage of crop protection products, making it essential for right usage of crop protection chemicals in increasing agricultural production by preventing crop losses before and after harvesting The pressure to improve the yields is gradually rising, as there has been constant rise in the world?€™s population, which is resulting, into shrinking arable lands. Crop protection products here come into play as it has potential to increase the yield if used significantly. There has been increasing awareness amongst the end consumers typically farmer for usage of agrochemicals which will improve their yields, protecting their crop from potential heavy losses that are bared due to attacks from weeds, pests and insects. According to recently published report of Actual Market Research "
India Crop Protection Market Outlook, 2021", market share of Insecticides is more than 60% and Herbicides and Fungicides together contribute close to 35% of the total market. Crop protection market of the country is moving forward with a healthy CAGR, and is expected to flourish in years to come. Current low consumption of crop protection products in India, 0.6 kg/ha compared to world average of 3 kg/ha, offers immense opportunities for future growth. Availability of cheap labor and low processing costs offers opportunity for MNCs to setup their manufacturing hubs in India for their export markets. The sector is driven by huge opportunity for contract manufacturing and research for Indian players due to large availability of technically skilled labor. With ~35-40% of the total farmland under crop protection, there is a significant un-served market to tap in to. By educating farmers and conducting special training programs regarding the need to use agrochemicals. Major companies operating in the crop protection market of India are Bayer Crop Science Ltd., PI Industries Ltd., Dhanuka Agritech Ltd., Mosanto India Ltd., Rallis India Ltd., UPL Limited India, Syngenta, Insecticides India Ltd., E.I.DuPont India Private Limited and BASF India Limited.
