No way around. Glyphosate makers see sales dip in short-term due to new usage norms

Manufacturers of glyphosate in India such as Bayer Crop Science Ltd, Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd, and Crystal Crop Protection Ltd, among others, see some short-term impact on sales of the largest selling herbicide in the country due to the new norms announced recently by the Centre on its sale and usage.

This is mainly on account of the lack of adequately trained pest control operators (PCOs) in the country, who could take up the spraying of the herbicide as a service. On October 25, the Centre notified that glyphosate can henceforth be used only through the PCOs. Some glyphosate manufacturers have started looking at developing PCOs in collaboration with their dealer network.

Amidst rising farm wages and shortage of labour, the use of herbicides such as glyphosate has been on the rise in recent years with farmers finding it cheaper option to protect their yields from weeds that compete with standing crops for nutrients.

₹1,000 crore annual sales

As part of its Q2 earnings statement, Bayer CropScience said it sees potential impact in the short term on the sale of glyphosate and is working with all stakeholders to understand the implications and to best serve the critical weed management needs of farmers.

Industry sources estimate that the annual sales of the glyphosate exceeds ₹1,000 crore.

“There will be some impact on sales as glyphosate is one of the important products in our portfolio. We may see some drop in sales if States start imposing this notification and stop the sales of glyphosate. But nothing as of now,” said Ankur Aggarwal, Managing Director, Crystal Crop Protection Ltd. The company is also exploring options for developing the PCO network along with its dealers, but it would take a long time, Aggarwal said.

In fact some states like Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand among others have already started implementing the Centre’s latest notification.

Chetan Shah, Managing Director, Sumitomo Chemical, in Q2 earnings statement said the order will have no impact on export business for the product. “It is difficult to assess the impact of this order on domestic consumption of glyphosate. It may, however, impact domestic sales and consumption of glyphosate in the short term -- at least in the initial period -- because of the inadequate number of trained PCOs. The company is taking adequate steps to mitigate the adverse impact, if any, arising out of the order.” Shah said.

While there could be a potential short-term impact on glyphosate sales, alternative herbicides, such as glufosinate, may see growth. “We believe that the other herbicide market may grow a little more – the other selective, non-selective herbicide market will continue to grow. UPL will benefit so will everybody else” said Jai Shroff, CEO, UPL told businessline recently.

While Crystal Crop also has glufosinate in its product portfolio and its sales have been going up, Aggarwal said there’s no replacement for glyphosate, which has been used for over 40 years now. “Eventually, farmers will be the losers due to ongoing developments,” he said.

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