Food and Agriculture

The Bio Turn: How India’s Agrochemical Industry is Moving Toward Sustainable Growth

14 Oct 2025

For decades, India’s agricultural growth has relied on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. While these inputs supported yield improvement, they also contributed to soil degradation and environmental stress. As environmental concerns, regulatory changes, and economic factors align, the sector is entering a phase of transition led by biostimulants naturally derived products that improve nutrient efficiency, soil quality, and crop resilience.

This transition goes beyond replacing inputs. It represents a gradual shift toward green chemistry, where productivity and environmental responsibility coexist. Biostimulants are becoming a practical link between sustainability and farm profitability, aligning India’s agricultural systems with global goals on climate resilience and food security.

Indian agrochemicals at the crossroads: Traditional inputs meet biological innovation

In agriculture, sustainable chemical inputs are gaining traction with biologicals (comprising biostimulants, biofertilizers, and biopesticides) emerging as a fast-growing category, bridging the gap between traditional agrochemicals and natural solutions to support sustainable farming. Among these, biostimulants have gained the strongest traction due to their proven ability to enhance crop productivity while improving soil health, making them the leading edge of India's biological growth story.

Biostimulant segment is expanding steadily. It is projected to grow from US$400M in 2025 to US$1,100M by 2032, at a CAGR of 16%

Among product types, seaweed-based extracts account for about 39% of the biostimulants market, followed by Humic and amino acid–based biostimulants.

Exhibit 1: Fast growing biostimulants segment with India’s Biologicals market

What’s driving India’s green transition in agrochemical

This expansion is being driven by four key forces.

1. Policy and Regulatory Push

The 2023 Biostimulant Guidelines under the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) provided long-awaited clarity on product registration, label claims, and quality control
With 146 products approved and several more under review, the segment has transitioned from informal activity to a regulated category

2. Sustainability urgency and economic viaibility

About 60% of Indian soils are low in organic carbon
Fertilizer overuse has reached diminishing returns, while biostimulants enhance nutrient-use efficiency, improve soil biology, and build crop stress tolerance
The 70% increase in urea prices during the 2022 global fertilizer crisis reinforced the need for lower-input, higher-efficiency solutions

3. Export and Quality Premiums

Global buyers increasingly require residue-free produce, especially in grapes, tea, and spices.
Exporters use biostimulants to meet residue norms in European and North American markets

These trends are not just policy or market abstractions—they shape real-world decisions at the farm level. Farmers are increasingly looking for solutions that do more with less, improve soil health, and meet sustainability and export standards. This is where biostimulants complement traditional fertilizers, creating a practical path for India’s green transition.
Biostimulants and bulk fertilizers: Partners in growth, not replacements

From farm level impact to industry action: How indian firms are accelerating the Bio transition

The complementary benefits of bulk fertilizers and biostimulants are not just theoretical—they are shaping real-world strategies for agrochemical companies and startups in India. Firms are investing in bio-based solutions to meet farmer demand, sustainability goals, and export requirements, translating the promise of biostimulants into scalable offerings.

With clear policy direction and rising farmer awareness, Indian agrochemical players are rapidly expanding their bio-based portfolios:

UPL is scaling its Natural Plant Protection (NPP) division globally
Coromandel Internationa is investing in microbial and seaweed-based inputs under its Bio Products Division.
Sumitomo Chemical India is integrating biologicals into its broader agri-input portfolio
Tradecorp has launched Biimore, a next-generation biostimulant targeting fruit, legume, and horticultural segments

Startups are equally dynamic:

Sea6 Energy (funded by BASF and Tata Capital) pioneers seaweed-derived biostimulants.
BioPrime AgriSolutions, backed by Omnivore, focuses on microbiome-based crop enhancers
Absolute’s Inera and Varaha are leveraging data and carbon analytics to scale sustainable agri-input adoption

Challenges on the road to scale

Despite strong policy and market tailwinds, several challenges continue to constrain large-scale adoption and commercialisation:

1. High compliance costs

Stringent testing, documentation, and bio-efficacy trial requirements increase costs
Small and mid-sized firms struggle to meet these obligations, leading to market exits

2. Import dependence and quality concerns

Majority of humic acids and seaweed extracts are import dependent
Weak domestic testing and certification systems allow substandard imports to slip through, resulting in inconsistent product quality that erodes farmer confidence and disrupts market pricing

3. Low farmer awareness and adoption gaps

Awareness of product efficacy and correct dosage remains low, especially in Tier-2 & Tier-3 markets
Farmers often prefer traditional fertilizers due to immediate visible results & government subsidies

4. Distribution and infrastructure bottlenecks

Weak supply-chain linkages limit product availability in key agri-belts
Storage and transport challenges reduce shelf life and product effectiveness

Despite these challenges, Indian agrochemical players can accelerate growth in the biostimulant segment by strengthening R&D ecosystems, deepening farmer engagement, and leveraging digital traceability and strategic partnerships to enhance global competitiveness.

Exhibit 3: What Indian firms can do to drive biostimulants growth

Conclusion

India’s green chemistry transition is no longer a distant aspiration; it’s unfolding in real time. Biostimulants have emerged as the vanguard of this shift, offering a pathway to sustainable productivity, resilient soils, and higher farmer profitability. As innovation converges with regulation and market pull, the winners will be those who move beyond compliance to actively design for impact, investing in research, partnerships, and new business models that make biological inputs both scalable and profitable.

How Praxis can help ?

At Praxis, we help agrochemical and agri-input companies tap into the fast-growing biostimulants market. Our focus is on designing product–market entry strategies, accelerate sales, and build farmer-focused go-to-market models for faster adoption. With deep expertise in agribusiness and chemicals space, we bring in proven frameworks and benchmarks to enable portfolio synergy with existing agri-input lines, support diversification into new segments, strengthen regulatory and market readiness and turn the biostimulant opportunity into real growth and long-term advantage for our client.