By: ICN Bureau
Last updated : December 26, 2023 6:59 pm
By embracing innovation, diversification, strategic expansion, and sustainable practices, agrochemical companies can not only penetrate new markets but also foster long-term growth
In the ever-evolving landscape of global agriculture, agrochemical companies find themselves at the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and market dynamics. To thrive in this challenging environment, a judicious blend of strategic initiatives is essential for market penetration and sustained growth.
The leading industry experts discussed the latest scenario at the fourth session, ‘Strategies for Market Penetration and Growth in Global Market’ of AgroChem Summit 2023 organized by the Indian Chemical News in New Delhi on December 15, 2023. The session was moderated by Dr Kalyan Goswami, Director General, Agro Chem Federation of India (ACFI).
Sharing the industry overview, Goswami , informs: “India is doing very well in agrochemicals and we are in trade surplus. The export is around US$ 5.5 billion but it is mostly confined to the US, Brazil, Japan and Argentina. More than 50% of export is happening to these countries apart from other 130 countries. The global share is still lesser and the industry needs to work on renewed strategies to increase it further."
Indian manufacturers have an edge if they realize their full potential, feels Rajesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, Insecticides (India) Limited. He explains: “The Brazilian, South and North American, and European markets are the technical based markets and India has pioneered in making of technicals, particularly the generics. India is making them at very competitive prices. All the R&D that is happening is around making these generic products has its challenges too. The first thing is that quality and price have to be better than the inventor. Then only you can compete in the international markets and very precisely our scientists, R&D experts, production experts have proven that several times not in one product but in dozens of products. This has given a big advantage to India.”
Emphasizing on consolidation and integration of business, Shivraj Anand, Director & Global head-International Business, Parijat Industries (India) Private Limited, states: “In the absence of a free economy globally, and with the Chinese and, European companies receiving so much support from the government, we are going to have a problem every time we try to speed up making cheaper products. We have great success in the US but again with 11% of the supplies, China still beats us every time. Just as in companies there is backward integration, there's been a great push on making India too backward integrate. There should also be a focus on forward integrating into our brand business. We have fabulous scientists in India, across solvents, in multipliers. We have great bottle manufacturers. We have everything to make sure that when farmers pick up bottles across the world, it says Made in India. That's really where I see the growth actually setting up.”
India is fast becoming a manufacturing hub, says Abhishek Aggarwal, President & COO, Bharat Rasayan Limited & BR Agrotech Limited. “During the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the global suppliers and customers felt that there is a huge dependency on China. Therefore, under the China plus one strategy and also Europe plus one strategy, people started to give at least 20 or 30% of their global requirement to the Indian manufacturers. We saw a big jump from 2014 onwards because the registration process and everything in these countries takes a lot of time. We know that the pipeline of R&D molecules globally is very subdued. The amount of money which Japanese or multinationals are spending on R&D is humongous and they would like to protect their IP rights. So India today is a preferred partner for newer chemistries due to the fantastic laws. Comparatively in China, the manufacturer making a patented molecule for a multinational Japanese player has to give the full data and technology to the ministry. With the newer chemistries coming, India is becoming more dearer to the global partners.”
Highlighting the impact of lack of pollution control on exports, Prof Sampatrao Dagu Majare, Department of Chemical Engineering, BITS Pilani, K.K. Birla Goa Campus, opines: “The overall impact, whether it is hazardous or environmental impact, is rising and we will have to find solutions for this. Because of pollution issues, accessibility has become very important. We all know that the United Nations has also given a mandate to the major players in the market, that by 2030 they should have 30% of the recycled materials in their product. It is basically the fundamental issue but majority of the industries are very casual towards pollution. The process manufacturing, process optimization, mathematical modelling, all the new tools should be integrated. The equipment replacement, proper housekeeping are a few steps that are needed by organizations. Ultimately our four objectives are to maximize the profit, minimize emissions, minimize energy content and minimize materials.”
Indian players must focus on R&D and training a highly skilled workforce, says Saif Mohammad, CEO, Rubber, Chemical & Petrochemical Skill Development Council (RCPSDC). He elaborates: While there are a lot of challenges on the ground, we need to look at the entire picture from two perspectives. One is transition that we are undergoing and the other is the transformation we can achieve. When we talk about China plus one that is the transition we are facing. Necessity is the mother of invention and if you're challenged, we should be able to find a way out to beat the competition. But from the medium to long term, there can be a transformation. We have a lot of resilience in India and we have presence across the world, across the globe. Our human resources are very adaptive as well. Like every sector agrochemicals too must integrate IT and technology to tap new opportunities. Industry needs to have incubation centres and pledge for developing the specific skill sets of human resources. It can be precision farming, GI based, AI based.”
Shashank Chaturvedi, Marketing Director, HIL (India) Limited, says: “The Covid-19 scenario has made the situation very favourable for India as many industries are closing down in China. Many global players are visiting to have a various kinds of collaborations due to the policies of government. The Make in India programme scheme has supported our industry and you see considerable growth post its launch. As the government is supporting collaborations and R&D, we are also open to this. During Covid-19 pandemic, the agrochemical industry has done many collaborations and the good opportunities for partnerships exist outside and with government organizations."
Dr Shilpa Arora, IP Lead, Best Agrolife Limited, says: “The data-driven decisions in the market have a very important role. Data could be based on climatic, human capital, lifecycle changes, and cost. Understanding how these factors lead to impact on the farming community at large is crucial. We must be using AI based tools and the internet based tools to assess and analyse these types of data to arrive at decisions for resolving a problem. Wherein you need a complete life cycle, complete chain of solutions, I would say the database decisions are unnecessary in today's scenario. You need the right interfaces and technology partners. In terms of the PLI scheme, the government is not giving that much attention to the agrochemical as compared to the pharmaceutical industry. Industry needs backward integration.”
The AgroChem Summit 2023 themed, ‘Boosting Production Through Sustainable Agriculture Practices’, witnessed attendance by stalwarts and other stakeholders from the agrochemical sector across India.
The Summit was supported by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India.
Gold partners of the summit were Godrej Agrovet Ltd., SML Ltd., and Somaiya Vidyavihar University.
Industry association supporting AgroChem Summit 2023 included Agro Chem Federation of India (ACFI); Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI); Crop Life India (CLI); Pesticides Manufacturers & Formulators Association of India (PFFAI); and Biological Agri Solutions Association of India (BASAI).