Microbials market set to double in size, new research suggests

Biological farming with microbes and trace minerals is set to gain increasing popularity
Biological farming with microbes and trace minerals is set to gain increasing popularity

The microbials market is set to double in size, according to latest market research.

In the past six years, the microbials market has seen plenty of action—in terms of product patents, product acquisitions and company acquisitions.

After natural products, microbials is the next big category within biologicals in terms of market size. It currently represents a market of close to USD 652m (2014) — comprising 29% of the total biologicals market globally — but can potentially become a market double that size, according to the latest RaboResearch report Microbials: A Market Set to Double in Size.

Microbes are microorganisms so tiny that millions can fit into the eye of a needle. They occur naturally in the environment and are found almost everywhere. Countless microorganisms live in the soil and in close relation to plants, making up the plants’ microbiome.

Many of these microbes have distinctive properties that can help control fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects and weeds.

'Biological products have an advantage'

Vaishali Chopra, Analyst Farm Inputs at Rabobank, says: “There are several triggers underlying the predicted growth of the microbials market. One major trigger is stricter regulation surrounding chemical pesticides. These regulations mean that an increased number of chemicals are under regulatory scrutiny.

“This, along with a high hit rate in the screening and development of microbials, make microbials more attractive than conventional pesticides when it comes to launching new products in the market. Biological products also have an advantage when it comes to regulatory costs and timelines, which will play to their advantage in the advancement of the sector.

“All of the above lead us to expect continuous action and interest from private-sector players in the microbial biological sector over the next three years."

Going forward, some of the credible companies that are active in R&D and are backed up by scalable manufacturing facilities in the biological segment will receive interest from conventional crop-protection companies, bigger biological players and private equity firms, becoming potential targets.

The kind of valuations they attract will be a function of their registered products, size of the sector they operate in, patents obtained and innovative technology. What emerges is an attractive potential market, with both complementary and replacement biological products.