Japan’s nine-month agrochemical sales up 3%

Agrochemical sales in Japan rose by 3.1% to 281,264 million yen ($3.6 billion at the current rate) during the first nine months of 2012 pesticide year, which ran from October 2011 to June 2012, according to the Japan Crop Protection Association (JCPA). The sales volume reached 160,243 tons, up 2.1% compared with 156,948 tons last year.

Herbicides were the largest category, which posted sales of 101,938 million yen, up by 2.8%, while sales volume grew by 4.4% to 51,305 tons. Sales of insecticides went up 6.3% to 78,905 million yen and volume reached 55,874 tons, up by 3.7%. Fungicides dipped by 1.1% in sales to 60,126 million yen, and volume slipped approximate 10% to 30,134 tons. Sales for insecticide/fungicides rose by 6.6% to 31,524 million yen, and volume increased the most, up 13.8% to 18,449 tons. Sales for plant growth regulators saw a 6.8% decrease to 5,813 million yen, while volume down by 22% to 1,424 tons.

Agrochemical sales for paddy crops in value term increased by 2.2% to 109,155 million yen, while volume down by 0.3% to 59,708 tons. Nearly 57% of the herbicides, which was some 29,095 tons, were used on paddy crops, down by 1% compared with the same period of last year. Sales for vegetables and upland farms in volume term fell by 3.1% to 62,469 tons, but this category posted a 2.6% growth in value term to 94,050 million yen. Sales for fruit trees were flat in both value and volume, slightly up 1.4% and 0.2%, respectively.