This growth is mainly driven by the increase in global population which is increasing the food demand. The increasing calorie intake per capita is also an additional factor for increasing food demand. Factors driving the markets for pesticides include decreasing arable land, increasing population and the requirement of improving crop yields. On the other hand, regulatory authorities such as EPA (Environment Protection Agency) frequently come up with stringent laws related to curbing pesticide use for alleviating environmental damage and increasing consumer awareness about pesticide consumption, which is expected to be instrumental in slowing down growth in demand for synthetic pesticides.
Growth will be higher in the developing countries of South America (Brazil and Argentina, especially) and Asia. Mature markets, like the United States and the European Union, will also continue to attract a lot of sales. Growth will be driven by rising demand in all three market segments: agriculture, commercial, and consumer.
Despite being the largest market for Pesticides, demand growth in North America is likely to be the slowest, while Asia-Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing market. According to estimates, US demand for formulated pesticide products is forecast to grow 2.6 % per year to $12.1 billion in 2016.
Over the same period, demand for active ingredients will increase by 1.4% per year to 945 million pounds, valued at $4.8 billion. India, China and Japan pesticide market revenue (collective) is expected to reach $16.2 billion by 2016, growing at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2011 to 2016.
Japan is expected to be the second largest pesticide market after China by 2016.
Governments in several countries have come up with initiatives aimed at promoting the development and use of biopesticides because of their low toxicity, greater safety and higher effectiveness in controlling pests.
However, growth in the market has also been hampered due to the entrenched pesticides market, low per capita usage of pesticides in several regions, shrinking farm lands, and burgeoning research and development costs.