Home ›› 02 Dec 2021 ›› Front
Rising demand for chemical-free crops in domestic and global markets is driving biopesticides’ popularity among farmers and helping local manufacturers gradually elbow out foreign brands in Bangladesh.
Chemical pesticide use fell by 11.4 per cent in Bangladesh over the last decade, a blessing for the local biopesticide producers.
The government and many NGOs encourage farmers to use biopesticides, which plays a significant role in expanding the biopesticides market growing at 20 per cent annually, stakeholders claim.
Bangladesh Crop Protection Association (BCPA) data put the current market size of biopesticides at Tk 50 crore.
Tricost 1% WP, Monexe 0.5WP, Biomax M, Lycomax, Bactro-D, Q-Phero, K-Mite, Biotrin, and Sopodo-lure are some of the biopesticides produced and used in Bangladesh, while 75 biopesticides have been registered so far.
Local manufacturers are meeting 50 per cent of the market demand while the agents of several global companies supply the rest.
Key market players
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) data show 75 registered brands are supplying biopesticides across the country, while 50 are in the process of obtaining registrations to join the market.
Another some 25 companies are engsaged both in supplying and manufacturing biopesticides.
Ispahani Agro, Haychem Bangladesh, Russell IPM Bangladesh, Agritech 69, GME Agro, Integrated Crop Solution Bangladesh, and Mohsin Enterprise are the leading market actors in the country.
Md Shafikul Akter, deputy managing director of Russel IPM, said they have 14 products and another eight would be launched within two years.
“Annually, we used to sell biopesticides of around Tk 2 crore to the government and currently, we are selling to farmers as the demand for our products is increasing,” he said.
Those who used chemical pesticides are gradually switching to biopesticides.
Masud Hossain Khan, product development manager of Haychem Bangladesh Limited, said that the sale of their products was doubling every year.
“We set a target to sell 8 to 10 tonnes of biopesticides annually, but we have sold nearly 16 tonnes this year. We are planning to introduce organic fertiliser in the market within next year as it has a huge market demand,” he added.
IPM project encourage biopesticide use
Riding on rising health awareness and the popularity of a safe food campaign and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) project, the use of biopesticides is increasing with 15 per cent of annual growth, said industry sources.
The DAE implemented the IPM from 2013 to 2018 to ensure safe food cultivation.
More than 1.5 lakh farmers, of whom at least 25 per cent were women, directly participated in the IPM project. As a result, 9,005 hectares came under controlled pesticide use, according to an Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) evaluation report published in June this year.
Chemical pesticide popularity falling
The use of chemical pesticides has been gradually declining in the country in the last several years.
DAE data showed that Bangladesh used 37,422MT of chemical pesticides in the last FY, compared to 42,240.56MT in 2010.
DAE sources said the use of chemical pesticides declined in the last decade thanks to government support to control chemicals, rising health awareness and the popularity of a safe food campaign.
Currently, the government is emphasising safe food, human health and environmental protection. Considering the harmful effect, the government is reducing the use of chemical pesticides, said Md Jainul Abedin, deputy director of the plant protection wing of DAE.
Why biopesticides?
Experts said that the use of biopesticides is essential to increase export and ensure safe food.
According to the University of California State-wide Integrated Pest Management Program (UCIPM) (2017), biological pesticides play a significant role in IPM programmes by reducing the risk of chemical pesticide resistance, preservation of biodiversity, pollinators, and non-target species, improving the safety of workers, conserving natural enemies and maintaining environmental health.
The “Benefits and limitations in using biopesticides” research published in December last year said the productivity of biological and chemical pesticides on crops is the same when using natural pesticides as a source of pest control. Due to biodegradability, biopesticides are safer for humans and the environment. The importance of biological pesticides increased because the pesticides are effective, biodegradable, non-toxic, have different modes of action and available raw materials.
On the other hand, chemical pesticides decrease beneficial insects due to their toxicity to non-target pests, causing changes in an area’s biodiversity and affecting natural biological balance. Chemical pesticides leave chemical residues in food, either by direct application or by bio-magnification, causing health issues.
As per the Businesswire report-2021, the global biopesticides market reached a value of $ 3.96 Billion in 2020. Looking forward, the publisher expects the global biopesticides market to exhibit strong growth during 2021-2026.
The report said that significant growth in the agriculture industry and the increasing adoption of organic farming practices represent the key factors driving the market’s growth. Due to growing concerns for soil health, agricultural sustainability, and environmental safety, biopesticides are increasingly used to improve soil fertility and prevent plant infestation. Additionally, shifting consumer preference toward organic food products manufactured using chemical-free ingredients positively impacts market growth.
Abu Noman Faruq Ahmmed, Professor of the Department of Plant Pathology at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), said that biopesticides are crucial in ensuring safe food and entering the export market. Biopesticides work slowly while the farmers want an immediate reward.
Challenges and demand
Business insiders identified the lengthy registration process as the main challenge in the sector and the lack of consciousness as a significant obstacle. They also cited the lack of policy support as a big challenge.
Mohsin Sikder, Chairman and CEO of Mohsin Enterprise, said that he got the registration of his product after five years and two of his products had been awaiting registration for four years. The authorities registered chemical pesticides quickly but took a long time for biopesticides.
He also demanded to include all registered biopesticides companies in government projects to ensure safe food.
Debashis Chatterjee, Bangladesh Crop Protection Association (BACPA) manager, said that local producers sometimes fail to ensure quality. Biopesticides available in the market are costlier than chemical pesticides.
Abedin of DAE said that the government is encouraging biopesticides use. He said they have to wait for lab tests and trials to ensure quality and added that they are trying to expedite the biopesticides registration.
