The Fungicide Market is valued at USD 20.8 billion in 2022. It is projected to reach USD 28.0 billion by 2027, recording a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period.
The fungicide market has been influenced by some of the macro indicators witnessed across the globe. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, total agricultural land under organic farming for grains, pulses, fruits, and vegetables is increasing year after year. Global agricultural land under organic farming in 2020 was 74.95 million hectares, showing a growth of 5.40% from 71.11 million hectares in 2018. This increase in agricultural land under organic farming, provides farmers with the opportunity to fulfil rising domestic and worldwide organic food demand. As a result, farmers are using fungicides to protect their crops from various fungal infestations to minimize crop losses and increase overall crop yield.
With the rise in global pesticide consumption and the increase in foreign direct investments in agricultural activities, the trend of investing in R&D activities to sustainable agriculture techniques has significantly boosted the use of various fungicides in the agriculture industry. The major crop type on which the maximum fungicides application is carried out is cereals and grains with the mode of application being spraying and seed treatment.
Key players focusing on developing fungicidal mixture products in Brazil
Brazil (the worlds fifth largest country by area and population) is also one of the few countries with the potential to significantly increase agricultural area and yields. It has transformed itself from a tropical agricultural product exporter (of coffee, sugar, and cacao in the 1960s and 1970s) to a major global supplier of soybeans, soybean products, corn, cotton, sugar, coffee, orange juice, meat, and ethanol since the early twenty-first century. Manufacturers of fungicides have switched their primary active ingredients at least twice due to the prevalence of Asian rust spores. Most products in Brazil use carboxamide to control the disease, but crops have witnessed increased resistance to carboxamides. A new agreement was made in 2017 between Sumitomo Chemical Company and Bayer for developing fungicidal mixture products that help control soybean fungal diseases in Brazil. The Summit Agro in Paraguay introduced a new Planity fungicide in 2022, to protect soybean from the soybean rust caused by the Phakopsora pachyrhizi fungus and other end-of-cycle pathogens.
High demand for seed coating in commercial agricultural operations is driving the market
Because several fungi pathogens are carried on or in the seed, seed treatment with fungicides is critical. Furthermore, once the seed is sown, it is vulnerable to attack by many common soil-borne pathogens, which can result in seed rot, seeding mortality, or disease production later. Seed treatment is the most effective and cost-effective method of disease control, and is promoted as a standard practice in crop protection against soil and seed-borne pathogens. Seed treatment is therapeutic when pathogens infect embryos, cotyledons, or endosperms under the seed coat, as seeds have protective seed surfaces which prevent soil-borne pathogens from entering the seedling.
Some active ingredients used for seed treatment fungicides are metalaxyl, mefenoxam, captan, carboxin and thiram, carboxin and captan, fludioxonil and mefenoxam and thiram, applied to provide protection against pythium, phytophthora, rhizoctonia, Phomopsis, and fusarium.
Curative disease control, internal protection and translocation to hidden plant parts is showing an efficacy thus driving the market towards systemic fungicide
Systemic products, often referred to as penetrants, are absorbed by the plant and can spread to other areas of the plant from the location of application. They are locally systemic (only move a short distance away from the spray droplet) others are more mobile in the plant (systemic) and can move to the tip of the leaf or shoot and still others are highly systemic and can move throughout the plant, including roots. Most systemic fungicides are highly effective against their target pathogens, whether locally or systemically applied. However, systemic products have a longer post infection activity because they penetrate deeper into plant tissues and can catch advanced infection. Locally systemic fungicides have a translaminar mode of action. This implies that they move through the leaf from one side to another or across the leaf. By this form of fungicide, only new shoots are protected for a short time.
Systemic fungicides protect the plants internally as they are absorbed by the plants unlike contact fungicide which protects plants externally and can only eliminate the activities of pathogens. System fungicides can prevent some fungi infection when applied and absorbed by the roots too. These pose lesser threats to the environment as they are biodegradable by plants. Using a low volume of this fungicide results in maximum impact in fungi eradication and control. The prominent benefit of systemic fungicide is its translocation to other parts of the plant when applied on one surface is beneficial in shielding the crop from fungal attacks.
Asia-Pacific is hold the largest share in the market during the forecast period
The crops grown in Asian countries are rice, wheat, millet, pulses, cotton, sugarcane, tea, oilseeds and rubber in India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq, Russia, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Sugarcane, yam, taro, Noni, cava, coconut, cassava, bananas and betelnuts in Pacific countries.
China produces rice, wheat, potatoes, tomato, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millets, barley, cotton, oilseed, corn and soybean. According to FAOSTAT, in 2021, corn was produced 272 MMT (million metric tonnes), rice was produced 212 MMT (million metric tonnes) and wheat at 136 MMT (million metric tonnes).
BASF has launched Melyra fungicide in China with a F500 active ingredient. This provides farmers with new solutions to harvest crops. This fungicide is based on Revysol fungicide in China that has an excellent effect on biological performance against the pathogens which are hard to control in speciality and row crops while meeting the high regulatory standards. Farmers trust Revysol containing products which treat a broad spectrum of diseases in a variety of crops safely and sustainability. This can be used in various crops such as rice, pomegranate, corn, grapes and cereals. In rice they protect against sheath blight and blast, Septoria leaf blotch in cereals, gray leaf spot, northern corn blight and phaeosphaeria leaf spots and rusts in corn plant.
Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited has introduced in Japan KANAME Flowable, a new horticultural fungicide containing INDIFLIN (inpyrfluxam). One of Sumitomo Chemicals pipeline products, INDIFLIN, is a brand-new fungicide active component that the company expects to finish registering in major markets by the year 2020. (B2020 initiative). It belongs to a group of fungicides called succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHI), which prevent pathogenic fungus from producing energy. In both internal and external tests, it has demonstrated remarkable efficacy against a wide range of plant diseases due to its excellent fungicidal action, strong leaf penetration, and systemic action. Thus, it is anticipated that INDIFLIN will provide fresh approaches to managing widespread illnesses that threaten important crops like soybeans and grains.
The key players in this market include BASF SE(Germany), Syngenta AG (Switzerland), Corteva Agriscience (USA), UPL Ltd. (India) and FMC Corporation (US).
