This report is developed by Tata Strategic Management Group with support of FICCI as the knowledge paper for the “Safer and Judicious use of Crop Protection Chemicals and applications of Green Chemistry” seminar. The Indian crop protection industry as of FY ’14 stood at USD 4.25 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% for the next five years. Going ahead, opportunities for the Indian crop protection industry will come from exports, higher production of generic products, product portfolio expansion, and growth in herbicides and fungicides. The future of agrochemicals industry is bright. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% between FY 14 and FY 19 to reach USD 7.5 Bn. In coming years, agrochemical industry should focus on developing new processes and products with sustainability as the core principle. This requires developing a collaborative platform in which the academia, government and regulatory bodies, farmers associations, manufacturers and farmers come together to promote safe and judicious usage of pesticides. With the government’s ‘Make In India’ campaign it becomes imperative for the government to provide special support to this industry to enable it to achieve its true potential.

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Seminar on
Safer & Judicious use of
Crop Protection
Chemicals and
Applications of Green
Chemistry

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Preface
Manish Panchal Charu Kapoor P S Singh
Practice Head – Chemical & Energy Principal – Chemicals Head- Chemicals
Tata Strategic Management Group Tata Strategic Management Group FICCI
Manish.panchal@tsmg.com charu.kapoor@tsmg.com prabhsharan.singh@ficci.com
TATA Strategic Management Group (TSMG) has been regularly tracking the trends in the
agrochemical industry and supporting companies, both big and small, across various verticals to
achieve business excellence. The same knowledge and experience gives us an additional
advantage to realize this report.
The rising population, increasing food demand, shrinking agriculture land area and loss of crops
due to the attack of pests and diseases will require us to produce more from the same farmland
in coming years. To achieve the higher yield, crop protection chemicals will play an important
role. Simultaneously, it will also be critical to use them judiciously in order to maximize benefits
and minimize the impact on non-targeted species. Achieving both of these objectives will
require companies to shift towards “specialized products” and continuously improve awareness
for end users. In this report, we have highlighted the current market scenario for agrochemicals
in India and the shifts which are happening in this industry.
For a balanced growth of agrochemicals industry, it will also be essential for companies
producing crop protection products to evaluate possibilities to move to “green” processes and
products. Through this report we have also attempted to highlight possible strategies to
implement green chemistry practices.
With the current government’s ‘Make In India’ campaign, the agrochemical industry is likely to
benefit due to large installed capacities.
We are grateful to FICCI for collaborating with us in the preparation of this resourceful report.
As always it was an insightful experience for Tata Strategic Chemicals team to materialize this
report. We hope it acts as a guiding light both for the players and the consumers of crop
protection products.

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Contents
1 Executive Summary................................................................................................................. 5
2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 6
3 Indian market overview.......................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Domestic consumption................................................................................................. 7
3.2 Distribution of crop protection market by Product category ...................................... 8
3.3 The shift towards Green Chemistry.............................................................................. 9
4 Challenges............................................................................................................................... 9
5 Opportunities and Growth Drivers ....................................................................................... 10
6 Green Chemistry in Agrochemical Sector............................................................................. 11
6.1 Green Chemistry......................................................................................................... 11
6.2 Green Chemistry Implementation Strategies............................................................. 11
6.3 Short Term Strategies................................................................................................. 11
6.4 Medium Term Strategies............................................................................................ 12
6.5 Long Term Strategies.................................................................................................. 14
7 Judicious use of Agrochemicals ............................................................................................ 17
8 The Way Ahead..................................................................................................................... 19
9 References ............................................................................................................................ 21
10 About Tata Strategic ............................................................................................................. 22
Tata Strategic Contacts......................................................................................................... 23

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Losses caused by different pests (%) ............................................................................... 6
Figure 2: Indian Crop Protection Market, FY14 (USD Bn)............................................................... 7
Figure 3: Per capita consumption of pesticides (Kg/ ha), FY14 ...................................................... 8
Figure 4: Crop protection market split, India, FY14........................................................................ 8
Figure 5: Green Chemistry Implementation Strategies................................................................ 11
Figure 6: Advantages of Microwave Chemistry............................................................................ 14
Figure 7: Global bio-pesticides market......................................................................................... 15
Figure 8: The Way Ahead.............................................................................................................. 20

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1 Executive Summary
This report is developed by Tata Strategic Management Group with support of FICCI as the
knowledge paper for the “Safer and Judicious use of Crop Protection Chemicals and
applications of Green Chemistry” seminar.
The Indian crop protection industry as of FY ’14 stood at USD 4.25 billion and is expected to
grow at a CAGR of 12% for the next five years. Going ahead, opportunities for the Indian crop
protection industry will come from exports, higher production of generic products, product
portfolio expansion, and growth in herbicides and fungicides.
In coming years, the need for safe and effective use of crop protection chemicals will further
increase to brace with larger climatic variations and emergence of new invasive insects, weeds
and diseases. Hence, it is important for companies to invest today in science and practices
which promote safe and judicious use of crop chemicals.
Judicious use of pesticides implies using the right product, with correct dosage and with correct
application methodology. When used judiciously, the products deliver maximum impact on the
target species. Therefore, it is critical for both the government and for agrochemicals
manufacturers to work closely with the farmers and farmers associations to educate them on
safe and judicious use of existing pesticides as well as advancements happening in products on
a regular basis.
Internally, crop protection products manufacturers can also consider performing a process and
environmental impact audit of their existing products and adopt green chemistry practices. To
move to “green practices”, in the short term, companies can implement zero discharge
solutions, adopt COD reduction techniques and develop collaborative platforms. In the medium
term, companies can implement solvent recovery practices, explore alternate green solvents,
evaluate biocatalysts and microwave chemistry technology. Over the long term, companies may
focus on developing bio-pesticides, implement process innovation to achieve a better material
balance and build symbiotic relationships with key stake holders.
The future of agrochemicals industry is bright. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% between
FY 14 and FY 19 to reach USD 7.5 Bn. In coming years, agrochemical industry should focus on
developing new processes and products with sustainability as the core principle. This requires
developing a collaborative platform in which the academia, government and regulatory bodies,
farmers associations, manufacturers and farmers come together to promote safe and judicious
usage of pesticides.
With the government’s ‘Make In India’ campaign it becomes imperative for the government to
provide special support to this industry to enable it to achieve its true potential.

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2 Introduction
The world’s population currently stands at 7 billion and is estimated to rise to 9.3 billion by
2050. This will require the global food production to be increased by 70% over the same time
period in order to meet the demand. While there is a need to grow more food to meet future
demand, the world currently is facing challenges of food shortage, increasing malnutrition, and
rising food inflation. To add to the problems, 25% to 40% of world crop output is lost due to the
attack of pests, weeds and diseases (Ref: Figure 1)
The estimates reveal that agrochemicals increases crop productivity by 20-50%, which helps
mitigate the 20-40% of crop loss from pest attacks. About 20% of the entire world’s agricultural
production would be lost to post-harvest pest attacks if no crop protection chemicals were used.
Therefore, agrochemicals makes excellent financial sense as farmers can get back up-to 14
times their investments in agrochemicals.
Figure 1: Losses caused by different pests (%)
Despite their significant benefits when agrochemicals are not used as directed or not handled
with due care, loss of yield and /or environmental and health challenges emerge. Therefore, it
is essential for the farmers to be well educated about the various pros and cons of the products
which they are using. For example, indiscriminate usage of urea in India in place of potash and
phosphorus leads to imbalance in soil.
To successfully reap the benefits of crop protection products without compromising the
environment and human health, it is essential that producers and users of crop protection
products to focus the following elements:
1. Use crop protection products judiciously
2. Move towards “green” agrochemicals
3. Shift to green chemistry manufacturing processes

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The following sections of the report highlight the Indian crop protection market, the
opportunities and challenges of the sector, green chemistry implementation strategies for
companies and recommendations on judicious use of crop protection products.
3 Indian market overview
The Indian crop protection industry is estimated to be USD 4.25 billion in FY14 and is expected
to grow at a CAGR of 12% to reach USD 7.5 billion by FY19 (Ref: Figure 2). The exports currently
constitute almost 50% of the Indian crop protection industry and are expected to grow at a
CAGR of 16% to reach USD 4.2 billion by FY19, resulting in 60% share in Indian crop protection
industry. Domestic market on the other hand would however grow at 8% CAGR, as it is
predominantly monsoon dependent, to reach USD 3.3 billion by FY19. India is the fourth largest
producer of crop protection chemicals globally, after United States, Japan & China. The crop
protection companies in India can be categorized into three types –Multi-National, Indian
including the public sector companies and small sector units.
Figure 2: Indian Crop Protection Market, FY14 (USD Bn)
3.1 Domestic consumption
The per capita consumption of crop protection products in India is amongst the lowest in the
world. Currently the per capita consumption of pesticides in India stands at 0.6 kg/ ha as
compared to 5 kg/ha in UK and 7 kg/ ha in USA (Ref: Figure 3). On the other hand the per capita
consumption in other Asian countries like Japan, China and Taiwan is almost 50 times as
compared to the Indian consumption. Low purchasing power of farmers, lack of awareness
amongst them and limited reach are some of the reasons for low consumption of pesticides in
India, thus creating tremendous opportunity for the growth of crop protection industry in India.

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Figure 3: Per capita consumption of pesticides (Kg/ ha), FY14
3.2 Distribution of crop protection market by Product category
Insecticides dominate the Indian crop protection market and form almost 60% of the domestic
crop protection chemicals market. The major applications are found in rice and cotton crops.
Fungicides and Herbicides are the largest growing segments accounting for 18% and 16%
respectively of the total crop protection chemicals market (Ref: Figure 4).
Figure 4: Crop protection market split, India, FY14
As the weeds grow in damp and warm weather and die in cold seasons, the sale of herbicides is
seasonal. Rice and wheat crops are the major application areas of herbicides. The fungicides
find applications in fruits, vegetables and rise and their increasing usage are due to shift in
agriculture from cash crops to fruits and vegetables and government support for exports.

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Bio-pesticides include all biological materials organisms, which can be used to control pests.
Although they constitute only 3% of the Indian crop protection market, they provide significant
growth opportunities due to increasing concern of safety and toxicity of pesticides, stringent
regulations and government support.
3.3 The shift towards Green Chemistry
The Indian Agrochemical Industry is witnessing a gradual shift towards implementation of green
practices. Companies have started employing zero discharge solutions in practice which has
resulted in significant benefits. For instance, a leading global company at its Gujarat plant was
able to recover more than 80% of water, reduce COD levels by 40 times and TDS levels by 60
times by implementation of zero discharge solutions. This helped the company to comply with
governmental norms, avoid liability costs, achieve un-interrupted production and reduce
production costs.
4 Challenges
The Indian crop protection industry is facing numerous challenges. Some of the critical
challenges are highlighted below:
• Stringent regulations across the world are increasing the cost of developing
new products and delaying the introduction of new products in the market.
• Low focus on R&D by domestic manufacturers: Due to the rising R&D costs
Indian companies are unable to invest in R&D and hence focusing on generic
products.
• Building awareness among farmers: It is important to educate the farmers
about the right kind of pesticide, dosage and application frequency.
• Need for efficient distribution system: The lack of efficient distribution
system makes it difficult for the agrochemical companies to reach the farmers
to promote their products and educate them about their usage and benefits.
• Spurious products: According to recent study done by TSMG, spurious
pesticides constitute around Rs. 3,000 Cr (USD 500 Mn.) and 30% by volume
in 2013 of the total Indian pesticide industry.
• Long registration period: It takes almost 10 years to bring a new molecule
and it can take up to 5 years to get a generic product registered.
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5 Opportunities and Growth Drivers
Some of the key opportunities and drivers for growth of the Indian crop protection industry are
highlighted as follows:
• Export Opportunities: High export potential due to low cost manufacturing,
availability of trained manpower, better price realization and strong presence in
generic pesticide manufacturing
• Growth in generic products: During the period of 2014 – 2020 products worth
USD 6.3 billion are expected to go off-patent providing growth opportunities for
the Indian manufacturers.
• Product portfolio expansion: Companies are looking to provide a complete end
to end solution right from land preparation, availability of right quality of seeds
and crop protection chemicals.
• Growth in herbicides and fungicides: Labor shortage, rising labor costs and
growth in GM crops has led to growth in the use of herbicides and fungicides.
• Increasing demand for food grains and limited agricultural land availability:
The focus is to increase the yield per unit area under cultivation resulting in
increased usage of agrochemicals.
• Low crop yields: The yield per hectare in India is amongst the lowest in the
world, 3 million tonnes per hectare as compared to the global average of 4
million tonnes per hectare.
• Rural Infrastructure and IT: Linking the production areas with the market would
help in easy distribution of pesticides. IT services would help create awareness
among farmers.
• Availability of credit facilities: Easy credit facilities to farmers in the rural areas
will provide boost to the agriculture industry and use of more pesticides in order
to improve the crop yield.
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6 Green Chemistry in Agrochemical Sector
6.1 Green Chemistry
Green chemistry is a philosophy of chemical research and engineering that involves the design
of products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous chemicals. Unlike
the environmental chemistry which focuses on the study of pollutant chemicals and their effect
on nature, green chemistry aims to reduce the pollution at the source. Green chemistry
involves waste minimization at source, use of catalysts in place of reagents, use of non-toxic
reagents, use of renewable resources, improved atom efficiency and use of Solvent Free or
Recyclable Environmentally Benign Solvent systems.
Implementation of Green Chemistry practices can help the companies in achieving material and
energy efficiency and reduce the hazards involved in the entire life cycle of the product.
6.2 Green Chemistry Implementation Strategies
Based on the implementation time, resources involved and associated implementation risks
green chemistry strategies can be categorized into three types: Short term implementation
strategies, medium term implementation strategies and long term implementation strategies.
(Ref: Figure 5)
Figure 5: Green Chemistry Implementation Strategies
6.3 Short Term Strategies
On a short term basis the industry should look for possible ways to optimize their current
business practices by developing zero discharge solution, developing means for reducing the
COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) levels in the wastewater generated and by developing
collaborative platforms so as to learn from the best practices employed in other companies.
6.3.1. Zero Discharge Solution
The conventional wastewater treatment processes do not remove salinity in the treated
effluent. Discharging the saline waste water pollutes the ground and surface waters, also
impacting the nutrient value of the soil. In order to overcome the scarcity of water, impact of

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saline water discharge and regulatory pressures associated, zero liquid discharge solutions have
been developed which mean zero discharge of wastewater from industries. It involves
advanced wastewater treatment technologies to recycle recover and re-use the ‘treated’
wastewater, ensuring bare minimum discharge of wastewater to the environment. Apart from
reducing the environmental waste discharge, it helps in 90-95% of water recovery and recovery
of by-products from the salts resulting in operational savings.
6.3.2. COD Reduction
Industrial wastewater containing organic and inorganic impurities are toxic and can’t undergo
direct biological treatment. The industrial wastewater resulting from the spills, leaks, product
washings and effluents discharged from the chemical plants differ in characteristics amongst
themselves and from the domestic wastewater. Some of the key waste generating sectors are
pharma, agrochemicals and pigment industries. In order to meet the specifications for
discharge or for recycling the industrial effluents have to be treated. Various methods have
been developed to reduce the COD of the industrial waste water. COD can be reduced by using
H2O2, subcritical water oxidation, thermal-liquid phase oxidation, isolated bacteria and using
adsorbents like activated carbon, fly ash and neem leaves.
6.3.3. Collaborative Platforms
Instead of competing with each other, by building up collaborative platforms across various
levels of management companies can learn from the best practices prevalent in other
companies. Such platforms build trust amongst the companies resulting in sharing of
knowledge and expertise which is important for dissemination of green chemistry practices
resulting in development of greener processes and products cost efficiently. The collaborative
platforms can be developed across various dimensions like procurement, marketing and
distribution, energy, water, waste disposal and safety. For instance, development of a
collaborative platform by the top six Indian pharmaceutical companies has helped them to
share the best practices amongst themselves. This has resulted in energy cost reduction of Rs
10-15 Crore and reduction in water consumption by 200 million liters within one year of
establishment. It has also helped the companies in enhancing their solvent recovery by 4-5%.
6.4 Medium Term Strategies
On a medium term basis companies should look for how they can change their chemistry so
that they can maximize the efficiency of their consumption of solvents. This helps companies to
reduce the amount of wastes generated, improve their material efficiency and reduce the costs
involved. Companies can also explore new greener aspects of chemistry and chemical
engineering like microwave chemistry.

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Solvent recovery practice
The chemical industry heavily uses large quantities of organic solvents in a great number of
manufacturing steps which include chemical synthesis, fermentation, extraction, formulation
and finishing of products. They are used as reaction media and for products extraction in the
pharmaceutical, agrochemicals, specialty chemicals and fragrance industries. Except few cases,
the solvents used do not participate in the reaction. At the end of the process, the solvents are
usually contaminated and cannot be reused. Hence the practice is to dispose them and use
fresh solvents. It has been found that solvents have been responsible for 40% of VOC emissions
in Europe and their disposal costs go up to 10% of the purchase price. This makes solvent
recovery an important means to implement green and sustainable chemistry. Some of the
commonly used solvents are NMP, isophorone and cyclohexanone.
Alternate Solvents
Traditionally the solvents used are derived from crude oil and result in high levels of toxic
emissions in the atmosphere. The increasing usage of the solvents along with strict
environmental regulations to lower the VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) has resulted in
growth of biosolvents (greener alternatives). According to a research the green solvent market
is expected to reach USD 6.5 billion by 2018 at a CAGR of almost 8.5%.
The green solvent market is segmented based on applications such as adhesives, cosmetics,
pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, paints and coatings. Depending on product type, green
solvents are categorized as soy methyl esters, lactate esters, derived from soyabean oil, a
biodegradable alternative can replace almost 500 pounds of traditional chlorinated and
petroleum solvents. Ethyl lactate, another green solvent has replaced solvents like NMP,
toluene, acetone and xylene. The greener alternatives are biodegradable, easy to recycle, result
in reduced harmful emissions and are non-corrosive and non-carcinogenic
Biocatalysts
Biocatalysis is the use of isolated enzymes or whole cells for synthetic transformation. Enzymes
are catalytic proteins that catalyze reactions in the living organisms. Enzymes are highly
efficient catalysts resulting in rate enhancement of reaction to about 106 to 1017. Enzymes have
a very good selectivity i.e. ability to work with a single compound resulting in high yield of a
specific product. Compared to chemical catalysts biocatalysts require milder reaction conditions
(pH range of 5-8 and temperature range of 20-40oC). Biocatalysts are more efficient (lower
concentration of enzymes are needed), can be easily modified to increase their selectivity,
stability and activity. Traditionally biocatalysts have been used in production of alcohol and
cheese, however recently they are being increasingly used in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical
and food industries. Apart from being environment friendly and biodegradable, the use of

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biocatalysts can help the chemical companies to improve their yield and reduce the wastes
generated.
Microwave Chemistry
Microwave chemistry involves use of microwave radiations to carry out chemical reactions.
Microwaves act as high frequency electric fields and heat any material containing mobile
electric charges such as polar molecules in a solvent or conducting ions in a solid. This involves
agitation of polar molecules or ions that oscillate under the effect of an oscillating electric or
magnetic field. Under the presence of an oscillating field, the particles try to orient themselves
or be in phase with the field. But due to inter-particle interaction and electrical resistance the
motion of these particles gets restricted resulting in random motion generating heat. Different
materials have different response to microwaves, some are transparent to them (e.g. sulphur),
some reflect them (e.g. copper) and some absorb them (e.g. water). Microwave chemistry is
used in organic synthesis at elevated pressures or in dry media, synthesis of organometallic and
coordination compounds, synthesis of ceramic products and have applications in polymer
chemistry (Ref: Figure 6). Microwave chemistry finds applications in pharmaceutical industry,
agrochemical industry, polymer synthesis, chemical synthesis and extraction, nanoparticle
synthesis and biochemical and drying activities.
6.5 Long Term Strategies
In a long term companies should look for developing new green routes of chemical synthesis.
This involves shifting dependence form fossil fuels to renewable resources, and biomass as
feedstock to develop biopesticides. The Indian companies should also invest in R&D activities so
as to greener synthesis routes and products.
Figure 6: Advantages of Microwave Chemistry

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Bio-pesticides
Bio-pesticides, also called as biological pesticides provide an ecofriendly alternative to the
traditional pesticides. These pesticides are based on pathogenic microorganisms specific to a
target pest, thereby providing an ecologically sound and effective solution to pest problems.
The commonly used bio-pesticides are living organisms, which are pathogenic for the pest of
interest like biofungicides (Trichoderma), bioherbicides (Phytopthora) and bioinsecticides
(Bacillus thuringiensis). Globally, there are 175 registered biopesticide active-ingredients and
700 products available in the market. The global market for biopesticides is currently valued at
USD 3.6 Bn in FY14. As compared to the industry growth rate of 5.5% CAGR, the bio-pesticide
market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.9% to reach USD 6.9 Bn by FY19.
Figure 7: Global bio-pesticides market
North America consumes the largest share of global biopesticides (40%) followed by Europe
(20%). Asia Pacific and Europe are the fastest growing markets and are expected to grow at
CAGR of 14.2% and 16% respectively. The Indian market currently stands at 0.16 USD billion
and is expected to grow to 0.35 USD billion by 2018 at a CAGR of 17.3%. Neem based pesticides,
Bacillus thuringiensis, Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus and Trichoderma are some of the major
biopesticides produced and used in India.
The key growth drivers for the increase in demand of bio-pesticides are:
• Increasing demand for residue free crop protection products
• Growth in organic food market
• Easy registrations compared to conventional pesticides
• Increasing concern about safety and toxicity of traditional pesticides

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The key benefits of the bio-pesticides are:
• Cost effectiveness: Costlier but reduced number of applications
• Low residual effect and mostly biodegradable
• Low pest resurgence
• Target specific and less harmful on beneficial pests
Product and Process Innovation
It is important for the agrochemical companies to innovate products which can improve the
effectiveness of pesticide usage as well as reduce the negative impacts on environment.
Currently the Indian companies invest 1-2% of their turnover in R&D as compared to 5-10 %
spend by the multinational companies. It is therefore essential for the Indian companies should
to invest in R&D activities for implementing green practices. Some of the focus areas can be:
• Developing water based formulations
• Developing Target specific chemicals instead of broad specific chemicals
• Greener routes of chemical synthesis
• Reduce the number of steps involved in product synthesis
• Development of lower dosage molecules leading to lesser volume implementation and
reduced quantity of active ingredients going in atmosphere
Industrial Ecology
Industrial ecology is a multi-disciplinary approach that combines different aspects of
engineering, economics, sociology, toxicology and natural sciences. It is an ecosystem artificially
setup in which various stakeholders (Industries, Government bodies, educational institutes,
NGOs and society) come together and develop a symbiotic system where the entities through
the dependence on outputs and by-products generated by other members of the ecosystem
achieve material and energy efficiency and reduction in wastes generated.
Apart from depending on other partners for raw materials, companies also have the
opportunity to look for possible ways of converting the wastes generated from their processes
into useful products which can be used for their own operations. By developing a complete
chain of green chemical processes in different sectors, Industrial ecology helps in establishing a
viable and sustainable looping system.
Industrial ecology helps in reducing raw material and energy consumption, reduced external
dependence on feedstock and utilities, reduces the toxic waste generation resulting in cost
savings and helps in improving the image of agrochemical companies.

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7 Judicious use of Agrochemicals
Pesticides are substances that act as medicine for agriculture, hence they need to be used after
proper selection and advice. . If not properly used, applied and used, they could result in less
efficient or no results in saving the crop from the targeted pest / weed etc. and could also cause
harmful effects to water and soil. Therefore, it is essential that crop protection products are
used judiciously in terms of right product, correct dosage and application methodology.
Besides using pesticides, other methodologies should also be adopted in order to produce
crops in a sustainable manner. Select methodologies which can be adopted are highlighted
below -
a) Integrated Pest Management- Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a pest management
system that monitors and identifies pests before they become a threat; intercropping and crop
rotations are done to reduce buildup of pests and thus preventing pests before they reach
damaging levels. Pesticides are generally used sparingly and only when other methods fail.
b) Mulching, groundcover, and manual control- Mulching is the process of spreading organic or
mineral material to manually control the growth of weeds. Groundcovers are mostly plants that
are grown close to the ground below the main crop in order to control weeds. Weeds and
insects can also be prevented by manual control, though it is a highly labor-intensive process.
c) Release of beneficial insects and organisms- There are a number of beneficial insects and
organisms which destroy harmful pests.
Some of the other modern technologies which can help in optimizing usage of pesticides are
the use of injection syringes, GPS and weed-eye technology. Compared to conventional
sprayers, the injection syringes help the farmers to select different mixture of pesticides for
different fields. The injection syringes also help the farmer to continuously change the
concentration of single pesticide. This helps in reducing the pesticide use.
The GPS technology can reduce the pesticide consumption by up to 10% by preventing double
treatment, mapping of pest populations and by helping in calculating the amount of pesticide
required and time of application. The GPS technology also helps in selective spraying of
pesticides. Similarly, the weed-eye technology is a recognition technology which uses infrared
light to distinguish between the different weed species and accordingly target the desired
species.
Along with the government the manufacturers must continuously advise the farming
community to make safe and judicious use of pesticides. It should be emphasized that farmers
should always adhere to the set of guidelines recommended by the scientists and the experts

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and should only buy pesticides of well established companies and always take receipts of their
purchases
In developed countries the usage of pesticides is 20 times more than India; their crop yields are
much higher than ours. We can also achieve the same. For this, we must take steps to spread
awareness on the judicious use of pesticides by organizing educational programmes, seminars,
publicity campaigns, radio and TV talk and kisan melas from time to time.
We must realize that pesticides are as important as any other ingredient for the crop
production in this country. Pesticides like drugs are beneficial to man when properly used and
therefore should not be misused. It is entirely possible for a user to handle pesticides safely
with no obvious ill-effects to himself or his environment. Safe handling of pesticides by the user
may be dealt with under the following precautionary measures:
Pesticide Selection
- Before making a selection, the pest problem should be identified
- Select a pesticide that would control the pest with minimum effect on other organisms
- The pesticide should be one approved, registered and recommended
- Only the required quantity of pesticide should be bought and storage should be avoided
Dosage and Application Methodology
- Exact dosage as prescribed should be used
- The dilution ratios should not be altered
- Pesticide should be applied exactly as described
- No experimentation should be done on farm by end-users out of curiosity
Minimizing contact with non-target species
- Correct spraying systems should only be used
- Unused pesticide water should not be drained or mixed with fresh water. It should be kept
separately and used as soon as possible
- Proper personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, masks etc. should be used while
handling pesticides
- Any spillage of pesticides should be cleaned properly and immediately

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8 The Way Ahead
For a sustainable growth it is imperative for agrochemical manufacturers to adopt green
chemistry processes, develop new products which are nearly 100% green and increase their
focus on educating and training the farmers for proper usage of agrochemicals.
Focus on Green Chemistry will help the companies to design new products and processes with
sustainability as the core principle. Over the long term, this will help the companies to
differentiate themselves and build competitive advantage.
Government should look to curb the menace of spurious pesticides. Recommendations on the
same have been given in detail in recent TATA Strategic Management Group’s report on
spurious pesticides (available through FICCI).
However, the industry cannot implement the green chemistry practices in isolation. It is
imperative to build a collaborative ecosystem in which the academia, industry, government and
regulatory bodies come together and create opportunities for the industry, academia and the
Entrepreneurs to test, scale-up and commercialize their ideas in the domain of green chemistry
practices. Ideas or concepts with potential should be nurtured and adequate support should be
provided for scale-up and commercialization. This would encourage creation of inventions and
innovations in the field of green chemistry. (Ref: Figure 8)
The companies should also perform a process and environmental impact audit of their existing
products. This would help the companies to perform an environmental audit of their current
products and processes, evaluate the potential impacts of their products, and take actions to
develop greener products and processes.
Adoption of green chemistry practices, green products and embracing farmers to promote
judicious usage of crop protection products will be an appropriate way to develop a long term
sustainable business model in agrochemicals.

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Figure 8: The Way Ahead
With Government’s current campaign on ‘Make in India’ which has a special focus on the
chemical industry and aims to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub, good growth in
the agrochemical sector can be achieved if better infrastructure and favorable policies are
provided.

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9 References
1. Knowledge and Strategy paper for FICCI Agrochemicals Conclave 2014 prepared by Tata
Strategic
2. “Reengineering Chemistry for better tomorrow”, Knowledge paper for Industrial Green
Chemistry 2013 prepared by Tata Strategic
3. Various company websites
4. BCC research report
5. Chemtech Foundation article on pesticide industry
6. Indian Agrochemical Industry report by Sunidhi Institutional Research
7. United Phosphorus Limited Annual Report, FY13
8. Article on growing importance of Agrochemicals by KPMG
9. R&D Trends for Chemical Crop Protection Products by Phillips McDougall

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10 About Tata Strategic
Our Offerings
Founded in 1991 as a division of Tata Industries Ltd,
Tata Strategic Management Group is the largest
Indian own management consulting firm. Tata
Strategic has undertaken 1000+ engagements, with
over 300 clients, across countries and sectors.
It has a growing client base outside India with
increasing presence outside the Tata Group. A
majority of revenues now come from outside the
group and more than 20% revenues from clients
outside India.
Tata Strategic offers a comprehensive range of
solutions covering Direction Setting, Driving
Strategic Initiatives and Implementation Support

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Report co-authored by Abhiyan Adhikari, Associate Consultant (abhiyan.adhikari@tsmg.com)
Tata Strategic Contacts
Manish Panchal
Practice Head – Chemicals, Energy & Logistics
E-mail: manish.panchal@tsmg.com
Phone: +91 22 6637 6713
Charu Kapoor
Principal – Chemicals
E-mail: charu.kapoor@tsmg.com
Phone: +91 22 6637 6756