How is India leading agrochemical manufacturing and exports for the world

It is a matter of pride that India today is the fourth largest manufacturer of agrochemicals in the world. All major members of the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) have invested huge amounts and are involved in direct manufacturing of Technical grades and intermediates. Over the years the growth has been such that India is not only meeting domestic demand but exporting over Rs43,224 crore worth of pesticides, to over 150 countries matching global standards.

As has been observed the situation in China from where we have major imports, is critical as many raw material supplies have been stopped and many provinces have enforced power curtailment resulting in limited production. This is the opportune time to attract major investments in India from Indian corporates 

We as CCFI members sincerely appreciate the vital initiative taken by the Prime Minister towards nation-building by emphatically focusing on achieving self-reliance through Make in India policy. Our members are fundamentally involved in manufacturing technical grade and formulations for crop protection and see investments to the tune of ₹12,500 crore in the coming 3 years provided the government is supportive of our move. This industry today has reached a turnover of Rs 80,000 crore. We can certainly compete globally and gain manufacturing leadership in agrochemicals once this industry establishes volume of scale in production through inclusion in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The scheme should include not only intermediates but also technicals imported which can be manufactured and formulated in India.

Generic Pesticides Dominate Globally 

This is precisely our members’ manufacture and is the main reason for the higher adoption of molecules that are tried, tested and efficacious. CCFI has compiled data indicating that the share of generic pesticides has now reached an all-time high of 93%in the world market and, the share of patented pesticides is a mere 7%. The main reason as assessed for the poor share of patented pesticides is that many new chemistries launched, fail to fit the cost of cultivation or have low farmer’s acceptance the field.

According to Agribusiness by S&P Global, the total agrochemical market is valued at $75.5 billion (bn) as of 2022 of which the sale of generics is at $70.2 bn and the sale of patented agrochemicals is at $5.3 bn ″In 2010, there were 10 new active ingredients commercially launched. In 2022, their total sale was only $486 million (mn) out of the total market of $75 bn. 

Farmers have been using conventional pesticides for years on all crops of economic importance for the control of pests and diseases. However, with the shortage of labour, the herbicide segment has grown with increased use on cotton, paddy, wheat, sugarcane and soybean which has brought comfort in farming operations.

Source: Agribusiness by S&P Global (Accessed on 3rd July 2024)

On analysing the data further, it is observed that among the 20 active ingredients, generic herbicides constitute 55% in terms of sales value followed by generic fungicides with a share of 24%, and insecticides at 21%.

The key takeaways are that generics rule the roost in the global pesticides market and many of the newly launched active ingredients (patented) struggle to establish themselves in the marketplace. Generic pesticides have great economic importance in India as they result in significant cost reduction and therefore, are most valuable for small and marginal farmers. They are export-intensive and fetch valuable foreign exchange (trade surplus) as well.

India Becomes 2nd Largest Exporter of Agrochemicals after China 

According to the latest data released by the WTO, India has emerged as the second-largest exporter of agrochemicals in the world in 2022 with exports valued at $5.5 billion surpassing the USA with exports at $5.4 billion. China leads the exports in agrochemicals with exports valued at $11.1 billion. India’s rank was sixth, 10 years ago. This is indeed a remarkable milestone towards the direction of Make in India.

Top 5 Countries in Agrochemical Exports

(Source: WTO)

The stellar performance on the export front is due mainly to the Indian industry’s innovative technical capability to quickly introduce post-patent products at competitive prices in the market – domestic and global. Our scientists and engineers are among the best in the world.

The Indian agrochemical industry fetched a valuable trade surplus of Rs. 28,908 crores ($3.5 bn) in FY 2022-23. The performance on the export front is due to the Indian industry’s technical capability to quickly introduce post-patent products at competitive prices in both domestic and global markets.

Agrochemical Exports, Imports, and Trade Surplus

(Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry)

The USA being the most developed country is the largest buyer of Indian-made agrochemicals followed by Brazil and Japan. This is a testimony to the high quality of Indian-made agrochemicals which are used in over 150 countries worldwide. Import and Export figures are likely to decline during 2023-24 due to the global slowdown in the agrochemical industry with huge inventory and lower consumption due to the vagaries of weather.

In order to boost domestic production and curtail imports, CCFI has recommended certain measures to the Government of India to discourage the import of ready-to-use pesticide formulations. The association is of the firm opinion that the customs duty needs to be revised to 20% on technical and 30% on import of formulations or to maintain a delta of at least 10% between the two custom tariffs.

Regarding India’s ongoing discussions on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the EU, UK and others was felt that granting any TRIPs plus measures such as data exclusivity to the western MNCs would adversely affect the growth of India’s export-oriented agrochemical and pharmaceutical industry as well. 

Indian companies have in recent years made significant investments in establishing larger and new production facilities to cater to the domestic and global markets. Backward integration, capacity expansion and new registrations would foster the growth of the Indian agrochemical industry. With favorable policy facilitations, the Indian agrochemical industry is confident of doubling exports in the next five years. 

Surge in Imports Lowers Domestic Capacity Utilisation

We would like to mention certain impediments faced by the indigenous manufacturers. Imports have grown exponentially now to Rs 14,315 crore (2022-23) from Rs9267 crore (2018-19), reflecting an increase mainly from China.

Since major MNCs have plants in China, the import of readymade formulations is also on the increase now constituting 53% of total imports, the rest being Technical and intermediates.

Apprehension is also expressed on the quality- Technical so used could be of date expired material which is neither sampled nor tested during import. Traders are managing to bring in large quantities for resale though it is mandated that imports are only for their own captive consumption. Now it is mandatory to register the technical prior to registering formulation. 

India’s pesticide imports have surged 50% during the last 4 years mainly due to Import friendly regulations. Import surge lowers domestic industries’ capacity utilisation and increases costs.

Indian Food Safe for Human Consumption

Agrochemical is a major agri-input to minimize crop losses both in the farmer’s field and during storage. This is an ongoing effort to report to the media, government, bureaucrats, scientific fraternity, trade, farming community and households to assure them of the quality of Indian food, on optimal use of pesticides and availability all across the country. The findings also demolish the scaremongering about the quality of our food and pesticide residues in eatables. 

The data was furnished by the All India Network Project on Pesticides Residues for the period 2015-16 till 2023-2024 and has been collated for consumers.

97.21% of Samples in Food Chain Found Meeting FSSAI MRL Values

The above data is based on samples of food commodities drawn over the years which include Food Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk and other categories which include Curry leaves, Egg/Meat, Fish/Marine, Water, Oilseed, Red chilly Powder, Spices, Tea, etc. India’s compliance levels are in line with global compliance standards. MRL are legally imposed commercial standards and not safety standards. 

Let it be known that India’s crop protection chemicals consumption is one of the lowest in the world, far less amount as compared to developed and even emerging economies. Pesticide usage in India is 0.38 kg/ha as compared with China which is 11 kg/ha, Japan 10.9 kg/ha, Germany/France 3.7 kg/ha and the UK 2.8 kg/ha. 

Only 1.17% of Samples Tested Found Sub-Standard

The association again has been able to collect and analyse data through RTIs from 23 agriculturally important & high-consumption states where recommended agrochemicals have been used on a variety of crops. Samples are collected by these Insecticides Inspectors and tested in 70 State Pesticide Testing Laboratories and 2 Regional Pesticide Testing Laboratories.

Earlier in response to unstarred question No 309 answered on 15th September 2020 by Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri. Narendra Singh Tomar in Lok Sabha stated that during the last 5 years, 3,38,182 samples were analyzed, and 3971 prosecutions have been launched against firms and dealers whose samples were found sub-standard. This figure works out to be 1.174% as samples found sub-standard.

The Word ‘Spurious’ Does Not Figure in the Insecticides Act

For the benefit of readers, the word ‘spurious’ does not figure in the Insecticides Act 1968 and has been coined by vested interests to malign the Indian agrochemical manufacturers. The only term used is ″misbranded″ in Sec 3(A), the responsibility for such cases is taken by respective corporates to safeguard their brand image.

Indian manufacturers produce quality that is in fact superior to imported products in terms of purity profile and efficacy. Our members account for almost 80% of the exports to 150 countries with acceptable quality. 

Pesticide Quality Meet Global Standard at Lower Cost

We should take pride in the quality of pesticides manufactured indigenously which are exported to over 150 countries meeting stringent quality specifications. These figures reinforce the factual position, demolishing false propaganda and misinformation spread by foreign-funded NGOs & importing lobbies with vested interests to malign the indigenous manufacturers in terms of food safety, residues, and misbranded products which are only false perceptions. CCFI members are committed towards ″Atmanirbhar Bharat″ through Make in India″ not only to meet domestic demand but to feed the world.