Dicamba Market is Estimated to Witness High Growth Owing to Increasing Demand for Herbicide-tolerant Crops and Growing Organic Farming
The dicamba market is estimated to be valued at USD 720.1 Mn in 2024 and exhibit a CAGR of 7.7% over the forecast period (2024-2031). With the growing production of genetically modified crops and high demand for herbicides from the agriculture industry, the dicamba market is expected to witness significant growth. Furthermore, advancements in dicamba formulation technologies to reduce volatility are also supporting the market growth.
Market Dynamics:
The dicamba market growth is driven by increase in the demand for herbicide-tolerant crops and growing adoption of organic farming practices. Genetically modified dicamba-tolerant crops like soybean and cotton have increased acreage under cultivation globally. This is driving the demand for dicamba-based herbicides from farmers. Additionally, the volatility issues associated with earlier dicamba formulations have led to the development of low-volatile formulations in the recent past. These new formulations allow dicamba to be sprayed during summer months without the risk of moving off-target, thereby impacting more acreage. However, factors such as stringent regulations over the use of dicamba due to off-target movement and availability of alternatives could hamper the market growth.
Increased Adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops
The adoption of dicamba-tolerant genetically modified crops such as soybeans and cotton has significantly increased in recent years. Dicamba-based herbicides are widely used for post-emergence weed control in these dicamba-tolerant GM crops. As more farmers shift to growing dicamba-tolerant varieties, the demand for dicamba herbicide formulations is expected to rise proportionally. This high adoption rate of dicamba-tolerant crops is a major factor fueling the growth of the dicamba market.
Emergence of Difficult-to-Control Weed Species
The emergence and spread of difficult-to-control weed species such as Palmer amaranth (pigweed) have pushed farmers to rely more on dicamba herbicides. These superweeds have become resistant to many commonly used herbicides. Dicamba is still effective at controlling many of these resistant weeds and provides an important additional mode of action for integrated weed management programs. Its effectiveness against problematic weeds is supporting dicamba product usage and market demand.
Volatility and Drift Issues of Older Dicamba Formulations
Many older dicamba formulations are highly volatile and prone to vapor drift, which can damage sensitive non-dicamba crops. Incidences of dicamba drift damage to soybeans not tolerant to the herbicide resulted in many lawsuits and restriction in its use during certain periods. The volatility issues with dicamba cast a negative impression and restrain full market potential. However, new formulations being developed to address volatility can help address this major restraint.
Stringent Regulatory Environment
Dicamba faces a stringent regulatory environment in many countries due to its volatility issues. Some countries and regions have imposed restrictions on dicamba use during summer months when the risk of volatility is the highest. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently imposed restrictions on the use of older dicamba formulations due to off-target damage complaints. However, new low-volatility formulations may receive relaxed restrictions to realize dicamba market's true growth potential.
Development of New Low-Volatility Formulations
Leading agrochemical companies such as Bayer are investing heavily in developing next-generation dicamba formulations with much lower volatility and drift potential compared to existing products. New formulations, such as XtendiMax and Engenia, have already received approvals owing to their very low volatility. Further research into understanding dicamba behavior and molecule modification can lead to safer formulations with minimal off-target movement. This will unlock new growth opportunities by enabling dicamba use during previously restricted summer months and regions.
Approvals for Additional GM Crop Traits
Currently, dicamba is mainly used in soybean and cotton fields. However, biotech companies are developing dicamba-tolerant traits for other major row crops as well - wheat, corn, and canola are some examples. Approvals of dicamba-tolerant varieties of these new crops will exponentially expand the dicamba market size. Dicamba will find more usage as a post-emergence broad-spectrum herbicide across a wider geography and crop spectrum. Several GM crop traits in development and regulatory pipelines indicate strong future opportunities for dicamba.
Link - https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/dicamba-market-3452
Key Developments
- In May 2024, Bayer applied for approval of its dicamba herbicide, introducing updated guidelines for its application after a court ruling on February 2023, invalidated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval for certain uses of dicamba. The revised rules would allow farmers to use dicamba on soybeans until the seedlings emerge.
- In February 2024, the EPA issued an Existing Stocks Policy that permitted the use of over-the-top dicamba formulations on soybeans and cotton throughout 2024. This policy allows the continued use of previously distributed products like XtendiMax, Engenia, and Tavium, provided that all applications comply with existing label restrictions and state-specific regulations.
Key Players
Bayer AG, BASF SE, Corteva Agriosciences, Nufarm Ltd, Albaugh LLC, Alligare, LLC, ADAMA Ltd, Dow, and Syngenta
