Pesticides Industry: An Analysis of Imposts, Production and Consumption

The statistical analysis of import of pesticides in terms of quantity revealed a slow growth rate. However, the growth rates of their value were high due to increased per unit cost of the imported quantity. The imported insecticides had higher growth rates than total pesticides imported, suggesting the need of disaggregated studies. In contrast to imports, the rate of increase in production of pesticides in the country has been much higher, and its value has been growing even faster. When the analysis of growth rates is extended to quality, the picture which emerges needs a close scrutiny. The quality of insecticides imported (as judged from the area protectable) indicated increased rate of imports of low potency chemicals. However, in respect of insecticides produced in the country the rate of growth of area protectable was higher than the rate of growth in tonnage terms. As in case of imports and production, the growth rates of value of total pesticides was higher than growth rates of quality available. The growth rates of pesticides used for agriculture were higher than the total, suggesting the need of separate analysis for the two sectors, agriculture and public health. The study also revealed that the rate of increase in availability of insecticides was higher than total pesticides, indicating the need for disaggregated studies of insecticides and fungicides which have been shown to have widely different growth rates. As in case of insecticides produced in the country the growth rate of area protectable by all the insecticides have been higher than their increases in tonnage. The study thus has pointed out the need of disaggregated studies of pesticides, which is a conglomerate group of chemicals with widely different production processes and uses.