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A delayed monsoon has cast a shadow on the prospects of the pesticide industry in the country. The industry, that has been expecting to rake in higher revenues on increased product prices, now fears delayed movement in the supply chain.
Even as it struggles with the appreciating dollar and yuan, the Rs 10,000-crore crop protection industry is saddled with huge stocks from the last season.
With a not-so-great kharif season in important States such as Andhra Pradesh and a failure of rabi in some States, the industry sees a lower demand.
The industry has pegged a dip in sales in the range of 15-20 per cent as demand has slackened. A good part of it could be recouped if the monsoon is revived. But how fast and well-spread that revival would be determines the revival of its fortunes.
“The situation is alarming. Last year, we saw a deficiency of 30-35 per cent in rainfall. This had an impact on pesticides sale as farmers moved away from wheat and paddy,” Mr Pradip Dave, President of Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association of India, said. A deficient rain could make way for short-term crops such as millets that need relatively lesser intake of pesticides. “A case in point is reduced interest in cotton. They have reduced it because of a not very encouraging price last year,” Mr Dave said. India consumes 0.48 kg of pesticides a hectare against the world average of 3-5 kg a hectare.
The Standing Committee Report of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers estimated that the annual crop loss in the country due to pests and diseases is about Rs 90,000 crore.
“We see some complexity in product consumption because of scarce and scattered rains. There will be a change in cropping pattern. We are already witnessing a reduction in cotton acreage. These developments could impact pesticide consumption,” Mr Ankur Aggrawal, Managing Director of crop protection products company Crystal Group, told Business Line . The industry expects a change in the mix of production consumption in proportion to the change in cropping pattern.
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