Rates Stay In Tight Groove

The pesticides industry has in the last decade taken enormous strides. Total exports have spurted from a mere Rs 64 crore to nearly Rs 1,000 crore. The potential for raising this volume even further is tremendous as it is less than 1 per cent of global pesticides exports. But the future depends on the industry's ability to face new challenges and the government's willingness to address some long-standing problems. For, there is a plethora of international agreements such as the Chemical Weapons Convention, Prior Informed Consent Procedure, Montreal Protocol and Basal Convention which provide enough scope for non-tariff barriers for exports.

Volumes in the Indian pesticides business have been built up to an extent by small-scale manufacturers who in the past have not had to worry about other people's patents. But many of the molecules in vogue today are bound to lose thei