Mumbai: The sales of pesticides during April to June this year has declined by around 40 per cent from its levels last year, thanks to erratic and less than expected rains for more than a fortnight. This has resulted in pesticides prices decline by around 30 per cent.According to traders, the overall sales of pesticides this season has declined from over Rs 500 crore last season to around Rs 200 crore this season, the lowest in the last three years. Pesticides like monocrotophos, endosulphan, metasystox and dimethaote etc are used by the Indianfarmers.
Poor than expected rains has prompted the farmers to go slow on pesticides offtake, which has resulted in lower sales this season.According to Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association of India (PMFAI) president, Pradeep Dave: "During the last couple of days the overall offtake of the various pesticides has been low."
Under normal rain conditions, farmers require to spray pesticides to protect crops. Spraying of pesticides is usually done twice in the monsoon season. But due to less rainfall this season farmers are staying away from buying pesticides. According to Dave, between April-May, normal sales of pesticides is around Rs 500 crore, but this time industry is facing problems of rising inventory because of lower offtake.
However, optimism lingers around, what with rain gods smiling once again, and manufacturers and traders hope to sell their stock. According to Dave, India is one of the most dynamic generic pesticides manufacturing country with a total market size of Rs 3,400 crore per annum. With the global market likely to grow by over 50 per cent to around $27 billion by 2005, from current $17.5 billion, there is a bright future for the Indian Pesticides Industry, Dave said.
Pesticides export from India is currently growing at the rate of 15 per cent and is expected to grow by around 25 per cent. Indian pesticides exports is placed at Rs 1,200 crore and expected to Rs 1,500 crore during 2000-01.Dave said that many Indian companies have opened their offices and stock depots in Europe and Australia to ensure quick delivery and many are on the set to open offices in various parts of the world. Meanwhile, gaining foreign registration for Indian pesticides is said to be a problem faced by the Indian pesticides manufacturers. Among various reasons, the high investments, intricate formalities and data generation are said to be deterrent for the industry's growth, Dave felt.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.