Consulting firm Kline & Co. said Tuesday that the market for biological pesticides saw rapid growth in 2014 due to wider use.
The market for biological pesticides had been a niche market consisting of organic produce growers and environmentally conscious homeowners.
Recently these kinds of pesticides are being used increasingly by field crop operations, specifically in the preventive treatment for seeds. Currently the biological pesticides market makes up approximately 5 percent of the total crop protection market.
“Kline defines biopesticides based on regulatory definitions, which means that the category includes microbials, biochemicals such as fatty acids, plant extracts such as pyrethrum and natural substances such as diatomaceous earth," Kline's Agriculture and Specialty Pesticides Practice Industry Manager Dennis Fugate said. "So it is a broader definition than is often used. In addition to crop markets, Kline’s report includes noncrop market segments, such as consumer over-the-counter, pest control, turf and forestry - segments not often covered in this type of reporting.”
In the report, Kline also detailed the fragmented nature of this segment with approximately 150 companies being studied in nine countries.
Recent acquisitions by larger companies including Bayer and BASF have added legitimacy to this segment of the market, the Kline report said. The report said that countries with biopesticides can expect this part of the market to grow approximately 10 percent or more in the next 10 years.
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