Herbicides: Overview
Why soybeans and maize soak up most weedkiller
What this tab covers What the chemical is, how big its market is, what it is used for (with shares, volumes, why it wins and what could replace it), and its chain from raw material to end user. Ends with three things to remember.Herbicides kill or suppress weeds that compete with crops for light, water and nutrients. They are the largest crop protection class, roughly 40-45% of a market of about $66-85 billion in 2025 depending on the publisher (indicative). Glyphosate alone was about 826 kt of active ingredient in 2014 (Benbrook 2016). Most active ingredients are off-patent and made in China from phosphorus, chlorine, ammonia and methanol derivatives. India is a fast-growing exporter: herbicides rose from 31% to 37% of its agrochemical exports between FY2020 and FY2025 (Rubix 2025).
Volume about 1.8-2.0 Mt of active ingredient a year (indicative, basis: about half of world pesticide use of about 3.7 Mt a.i. in 2022, FAOSTAT) Market value about $28-36 billion (2025, indicative, basis: 40-45% of a $66-85 billion crop protection market) Growth about 2-4% a year in value (indicative; publishers range from 1.8% to 7.3% a year for all crop protection) AgroPages analysis by Oken Finance via AgriMarketing (Mar 2025); HNY Research via DRI (Apr 2026); Spherical Insights (2026); FAOSTAT pesticide use (2022, indicative); Benbrook, Environmental Sciences Europe (2016)Key uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soybeans | 25% | about $8 billionbasis | Herbicide-tolerant soybeans in Brazil, the US and Argentina are sprayed with glyphosate, glufosinate, 2,4-D and dicamba. Weed control decides yield in no-till systems, so spend per hectare is high. indicative share (basis: industry crop splits); Brazil is the largest crop protection market at $14.3 billion (AgroPages 2025) | tillage cover crops precision spot spraying |
| Maize | 22% | about $7 billionbasis | Pre-emergence atrazine, acetochlor, S-metolachlor and HPPD inhibitors such as mesotrione protect maize early; glyphosate and glufosinate are used on tolerant hybrids. indicative share | inter-row cultivation cover crops seed-applied traits |
| Cereals (wheat, barley) | 15% | about $5 billionbasis | Grass weeds such as blackgrass and ryegrass cut cereal yields in Europe and Australia, where resistance has made sequences of several herbicides normal. indicative share | crop rotation delayed drilling harvest weed seed control |
| Rice | 7% | about $2 billionbasis | Direct-seeded rice, now spreading in India to save water and labour, depends on herbicides such as pretilachlor, bispyribac and pyrazosulfuron instead of transplanting into flooded fields. indicative share | manual weeding puddled transplanting mechanical weeders |
| Fruit, vegetables, plantations and other crops | 15% | about $5 billionbasis | Orchards, sugarcane, oil palm, tea and cotton use glyphosate, paraquat (where allowed) and residual herbicides between rows. indicative share | mulching mowing grazing |
| Non-crop (rail, roads, industrial, turf, pre-harvest desiccation) | 16% | about $5 billionbasis | Total vegetation control on rail ballast and industrial sites, and pre-harvest desiccation of grains and pulses. indicative share | hot water and steam mechanical clearing |
From raw material to user
- Raw materials Phosphate rock to yellow phosphorus in electric furnaces, salt to chlorine, gas or coal to ammonia, methanol and formaldehyde.
- Intermediates Phosphorus trichloride and dimethyl phosphite, glycine or iminodiacetic acid (IDA), chloroacetic acid, cyanuric chloride and aniline derivatives.
- Technical active ingredient Batch or continuous synthesis to 95-98% technical (TC); world glyphosate capacity was about 1.1 Mt/yr in 2021, about 700 kt of it in China (Bichos de Campo, Nov 2021).
- Formulation Technical is made into soluble concentrates (glyphosate IPA or potassium salt about 360-540 g/L), granules or suspensions with surfactants, often near the market.
- Distribution and application Sold through distributors and retailers each season; Brazil ($14.3 billion), the US ($13.3 billion) and China ($10.8 billion) are the largest crop protection markets (AgroPages 2025).
Made from (commodity table)
P Phosphate rockGas Natural gasThree things to know
- Chinese glyphosate technical went from under RMB 28,000/t at the start of 2021 to over RMB 80,000/t in October 2021, nearly tripling (Bichos de Campo, Nov 2021).
- Glufosinate, glyphosate's main rival, fell from $50,162/t in November 2021 to $6,472/t in September 2025 as Chinese capacity tripled to about 155 kt/yr (CCM 2025).
- Herbicides rose from 31% to 37% of India's agrochemical exports between FY2020 and FY2025, growing about 20% a year (Rubix 2025).