AGRICULTURAL TESTING MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Global Agricultural Testing Market Drivers:

• Growing concern over food safety and sustainable practices: Growing concern over food safety and sustainable practices is driving growth of the agricultural testing market. The world is witnessing unparalleled challenges such as resource depletion, drought, water scarcity, land degradation, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. All these factors are affecting the sustainability of food and agriculture systems and the livelihoods of smallholders and farmers. In order to combat these challenges, proper testing is important to improve human lives.
• Increasing regulations and frameworks related to agricultural and environmental safety: Increasing regulations and frameworks related to agricultural and environmental safety are again fostering market growth. The Federal Seed Act (FSA), 2020, outlines seed requirements, such as germination, seed purity, details of treated seeds, etc., for instance shipments of agricultural and vegetable seeds. In the United States, regulations related to pesticide registration, production, and distribution under the authority of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) are governed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Global Agricultural Testing Market Restraints:

• High cost and time involved: The high cost and time involved in testing are expected to restrict market growth. For instance, as per a protocol by Wayne State University, for every 242 square feet, a soil sample needs to be collected. Penn State’s lab would charge approximately US$ 27 per sample to be tested for lead contamination, which would cost the farmer US$ 837 per lot. For one acre (5.81 lots), it would cost a farmer around US$ 4,860 for only lead testing.
• Low awareness among farmers: Lack of awareness regarding agricultural testing among farmers is again anticipated to hinder market growth. For instance, as a part of research conducted by the Central European University of Agronomy and Soil Sciences in 2020, a random sampling of 500 farmers was done. The results revealed that only about 17.4% of the respondents belonged to a very high category with respect to knowledge of soil testing and use of soil health cards for advance farming. This shows that the majority of farmers lack proper knowledge and awareness, which impacts the overall soil testing market in Europe.

Global Agricultural Testing Market Opportunities:

• Increase number of regulation related to protection of soil: The growing number of regulations related to the protection of soil in the European region is projected to support the soil testing market, especially in the U.K. This is expected to provide lucrative growth opportunities. The country has made soil testing mandatory every five years.
• The focus of key players is on the introduction of new technology:Key players are focusing on introducing new technology in agricultural testing. This is projected to provide major growth opportunities for the key players. For instance, in January 2022, Bayer is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnological company which announced the launch of Testing4Ag, a new program that allows research scientists from around the world to submit novel chemistries to Bayer for testing in hopes of identifying potential new modes of action to control fungal diseases, insect pests, or weeds.