Biofertilizers Market 2020 and Forecast 2021-2027

                                          
Report Overview: Biofertilizers Market


The global biofertilizers market size was valued at USD 1.0 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% from 2021 to 2027. The increasing usage of microbes in biofertilizers proves the potential for sustainable farming methods and food safety. The increasing concern with respect to food safety is expected to drive the market for biofertilizers over the forecast period 2021-2027.

The EU “Common Agricultural Policy” promotes the use of bio-based products along with organic farming and provides up to 30.0% of the budget as direct green payment to farmers complying with sustainable agricultural practices. Favorable regulatory scenario, especially in North America and Europe is expected to be a key driving factor for the market for biofertilizers over the next couple of years across these regions.

The global agriculture industry is a fast-moving sector with dynamic changes on various levels across all economies of the world. With intervention of digital farming and precision farming practices prevailing in all countries, the growing economic regions are adapting to technological reforms to sustain in the ecosystem. Technological adaptability comes with high investments, which in turn, affects the overall return on investments. This is a key factor that puts an entry barrier to small agricultural entrepreneurs and medium-scale farmers to penetrate in the global competitive environment.

With multiple million-dollar companies working towards developing high-performance agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, various pesticides, the need for alternative environment-friendly products are at its peak. With decades of traditional cultivation practices using synthetic products for aggressive crop yields globally, there has been a massive impact on the underground water reserves and soil fertility worldwide. These factors have led to increasing penetration of organic farming products as well as organic cultivation practices globally, backed by consumer awareness of human health effects coupled with environmentalists acting upon the environmental hazards caused since the past decades.

According to European Biomass Industry Association, the market is anticipated to witness significant growth over the forecast period as biofertilizers have the ability to create a physical barrier between plants and crops against pests and simultaneously boost healthy plant growth. Biofertilizers enhance the absorption of phosphorus and zinc by plants as well as resist pathogen attacks on plants. Furthermore, the use of bio-based fertilizers in agricultural fields significantly helps in decomposition of organic residue and aids in the overall development of plants and crops.
Also, rising prices of synthetic fertilizers globally backed with consumers’ response toward rising prices for synthetically cultivated food products are projected to remain a key factor boosting the consumption of biofertilizers in the coming years. With rapidly rising global population, food scarcity remains a critical issue for governments around the globe. This has led to innovations in terms of product development in bio-based fertilizer sector and promotion of environment-friendly agricultural solutions to the major agrarian economies. This, in turn, is anticipated to augment the demand for biofertilizers across all agricultural economies over the forecast period.

Product Insights: Biofertilizers Market

In terms of volume, nitrogen-fixing biofertilizers lead the market with a share of 71.2% in 2019. This high share is attributable to correction of heavily contaminated soil and water reserves caused by the usage of synthetic fertilizers for decades globally. Plant growth demands high phosphorus content in the soil, fixed nitrogen presence, and several other essential minerals in the soil, which are sufficed by the utilization of biobased fertilizers. Furthermore, use of various biofertilizers depending on the soil and crop type promotes healthy development of plants without any adverse effect on human health as well as on the environment.

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are most commonly utilized biofertilizers as plants do not have the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into fixed nitrogen, which is essential for their growth and development. Azotobacter, Rhizobium, and Azospirillum are the majorly used bacteria for nitrogen fixation in seed and soil treatment applications. Nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium has the ability to develop endosymbiotic association with the roots of legumes, which paves its way for use as biofertilizers in the cultivation of leguminous crops. Aerobic nature of Azotobacter along with its neutrality in alkaline soil has increased its application scope in the cultivation of crops including maize, wheat, cotton, mustard, and potato.

However, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Aspergillus are the majorly used bacteria for providing phosphorous macronutrients to plants. These biofertilizers have the ability to hydrolyze organic as well as inorganic phosphates from insoluble compounds through the involvement of soluble bacteria. Across Asia Pacific, countries such as India, Australia, China, and Thailand have been predominantly reliant on synthetically formulated phosphate fertilizers. Major agricultural input companies have their decades-old facilities in the region serving the region’s local farming base with synthetic fertilizers, which slightly acts as a restraining factor for phosphate solubilizing products across Asia Pacific.

Apart from nitrogen-fixing biofertilizers and phosphate solubilizing products, which are the two majorly demanded products worldwide, multinational companies working in the spectrum are also focusing on mass commercializing potassium mobilizing biofertilizers, zinc solubilizing products, and NPK consortia liquid products. Silicate bacteria are among the most common potassium solubilizing bacteria, which includes Bacillus glucanolyticus, B. mucilaginous, B. circulans, and B. edaphicus.

Crop Type Insights: Biofertilizers Market

The cereals and grains segment held the largest volume share of 76.4% in 2019. Cereals and grains production demand a substantial quantity of biofertilizer for healthy development. Studies conducted worldwide indicated that cereal and grain crops reflected high development and growth with Azotobacter inoculation which aided in reducing nitrogen requirement by crops. Further, for healthy development of wheat, phosphate solubilizing bacteria and Azoteobacter inoculation proved highly efficient biofertilizers in terms of crop yield. Utilization of these for cereal and grain cultivation results in high vegetation growth, and high photosynthesis activity.

Oilseeds and pulses are anticipated to record the fastest growth, in terms of volume, with CAGR of 11.1% in the biofertilizers market from 2020 to 2027. Growing demand for soybean, sunflower, and groundnuts across the globe are considered to the key benefiting factor behind the product’s application in oilseeds and pulses sector. Further, with multiple microbiological advancements in determining the suitable composition of biofertilizers for application in wheat cultivation among major cereals & grains cultivation, the demand is projected to reflect high growth over the forecast period worldwide.

Biofertilizer consumption in oilseeds and pulses recorded the highest in North America and Asia Pacific regions due to increasing demand for soybean, groundnut, sesamum, and sunflower. Biofertilizer compositions with phosphorus solubilizing bacteria, rhizobium, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, and vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza have been proven to be most effective for a range of pulses and oilseed cultivation globally.

Application Insights: Biofertilizers Market

In terms of volume, seed treatment application lead the market with a share of 73.2% in 2019, majorly driven by the benefits of induced nutritional values in the seeds. Aggressive consumption of synthetic fertilizers and a multitude of other crop care chemicals such as pesticides and insecticides over the past couple of years have led to a substantial deterioration in soil quality across all major agrarian economies. However, several governments have imposed regulations on agricultural sector across all developing and developed economies taking into consideration the environmental hazards caused due to excessive use of chemical products in farming, which is projected to reflect a positive growth trend for biofertilizers in various seed and soil applications across the globe.

Seed inoculation or seed treatment is one of the most significant points of application globally. Seed treatment includes dipping of the desired seeds in a mixture of phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers. Later, the seeds are sun-dried and subsequently sown in the fields. The inoculant coating made on the seeds enables quick and healthy growth of the plants. The key objective of incorporating biofertilizers during seed treatment is majorly to induce essential nutrients such as sulfur, zinc, nitrogen, and phosphorus, which enhance the nutritional value of vegetables & fruits and cereals & grains.

Also, biofertilizers play a key role in soil treatment application as they significantly improve the soil condition and make it more convenient for plants to absorb essential minerals from the soil. When applied to the soil, they fix the nitrogen present in the soil and root nodules. They also aid in scavenging phosphate in the soil and make it readily available for plant intake. In addition, it also significantly improvise soil mineralization by decomposing the available organic substances in the soil, thereby, enhancing soil properties for cultivation. These characteristics portrayed by biofertilizers on soil application reflect a substantial enhancement of around 15% to 25% in crop yield.

Regional Insights: Biofertilizers Market

North America lead the market with a share of 32.6%, in terms of revenue, in 2019. According to The World of Organic Agriculture in 2017, around 0.8% of the total agricultural land was used for organic farming in North America, which is expected to reach around 5% by the end of 2020. Increasing government interventions in farming practices held in the region led to significant changes in agricultural trends & methods across the U.S. and Canada. With stringent regulations in place, over 19,017 farming communities are practicing organic farming in the region to ensure sustainable long-term business.

Asia Pacific is expected to witness a CAGR of 13.1% from 2021 to 2027. Asia Pacific region is a hub for majority of the agrarian economies including India, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Philippines, and more which are shifting their paradigm towards a more sustainable form of agriculture.

This trend is backed with increasing consumer preference towards consuming organic food, coupled with regulatory initiatives and agricultural reforms undertaken by various governments of various Asian countries. Growth of biofertilizers industry is growing parallelly with the rise in organic farming practices. Latin America reflected the second-highest growth rate of 12.9% over the forecast period due to sustainable agricultural practices adopted by farming communities across Brazil and Argentina.

In terms of organic agricultural practices, 21 countries in Asia Pacific have implemented organic harvesting national standards and regulations, with 5 other Asian countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Jordan, which are in the process of drafting such regulations. As of 2017, Asia Pacific comprised over 9% of the worldwide organic farming land, out of which arable crops consumed over 45% of the total farming land area, followed by permanent crops with a share of 18%.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights: Biofertilizers Market

The market for biofertilizers is fragmented with a large number of domestic companies focusing on regional markets. The market leaders are companies that have initially established a significant presence in the global industry. In their quest to develop products with new natural ingredients the companies have developed product formulations that are well accepted and have established a significant geographical presence. With significant sales figures, they have cemented their position in the market for biofertilizers.

Emerging players in the market for biofertilizers have integrated manufacturing and distribution along with a focus on product innovation. The key companies have developed processes and formulated products to adopt the product differentiation strategy. These companies also work with farmers to develop customized products.

CBF China bio-fertilizer is one of the significant market players with a large geographical presence. The company has made significant inroads into China which has shown the potential to become a major market in the coming years. The significant investment in new product development and geographical expansion is expected to cement its market position. Some of the prominent players in the biofertilizers market include:

Key companies Profiled: Biofertilizers Market Report

 	
CBF China Biofertilizers
 	
 Lallemand Inc.
 	
Novozymes A/S
 	
 Fertilizers USA LLC
 	
AgriLife
 	
Symborg SL

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2016 to 2027. For the purpose of this study, Trusted Business Insights has segmented the global biofertilizers market report on the basis of product, application, crop type, and region:

Product Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 	
Nitrogen Fixing
 	
Phosphate Solubilizing
 	
Others

Application Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 	
Seed Treatment
 	
Soil Treatment

Crop Type Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 	
Cereals & Grains
 	
Oilseeds & Pulses
 	
Fruits & Vegetables
 	
Others