The current status and development trend of the global insecticide market are as follows:
1. Global warming triggers increased pest activity, leading to increased insecticide use. In agricultural production, the occurrence of pests and diseases is closely linked to climate change. If climatic conditions are unfavorable to pest growth, the severity of pest outbreaks will be greatly reduced, thus decreasing the amount of insecticides used. Typically, low temperatures kill overwintering pests, while warm winters lead to large-scale outbreaks of pests and diseases the following year. According to the latest monitoring results released by the World Meteorological Organization, the decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest since systematic global meteorological records began in 1880. Climate warming will lead to increased pest activity, resulting in a continued increase in insecticide use.
2. Insecticides still maintain a dominant position in the international pesticide market. Insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides are the three main categories of pesticides in the international pesticide market. In 2004, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides accounted for 25%, 24%, and 48% of the global pesticide market sales, respectively. In 2009, insecticides still accounted for 25% of the global pesticide market, with North America and Western Europe maintaining the largest market share, approximately 70% of the total market (Source: Phillips McDougall).
3. Increasingly stringent safety requirements for insecticides: While the global pesticide industry continues to develop, it faces a series of new demands. Years of pesticide use have caused varying degrees of pollution to the environment and to humans and animals. Therefore, the international community is placing increasingly higher demands on pesticides that are highly effective, low in toxicity, low in residue, and pollution-free, especially in the insecticide industry.
Therefore, as people's awareness of food safety and environmental protection further increases, the types and scope of highly toxic and persistent insecticides will be further restricted, while highly effective, low-toxicity, environmentally friendly insecticides that are less likely to induce resistance will be used more and more widely. This has resulted in the end of the life cycle or the decline of highly toxic insecticide intermediates, while novel insecticide intermediates, due to the high efficiency, low toxicity, and low residue of their downstream products, are in their growth stage and offer substantial profits. Take DuPont's new insecticide "chlorantraniliprole," commercialized in 2008, as an example. It not only precisely attacks and controls target pests but is also very friendly to other organisms and the ecological environment. Based on its "no residual toxicity" and other excellent overall physicochemical properties, "chlorantraniliprole" was awarded the "Most Innovative Chemistry Award" at the 2007 Brighton (BCPC) World Plant Protection Congress.
