Insecticides

Chemicals that kill crop pests: neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, diamides and organophosphates; India's largest agrochemical class and a key export.

Fine chemicals · Crop protection · No. 99

• Product family
• Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
• about 0.6-0.8 Mt of active ingredient a year (indicative, basis: about a fifth of world pesticide use of about 3.7 Mt a.i. in 2022, FAOSTAT)
• HS 380891

As fall armyworm spread from the Americas to Africa, India and China, farmers sprayed insecticides, half of them made in China.

Chart: Illustration: Insecticides

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Benzene, pyridine, chlorine and phosphorus are built into intermediates such as CCMP; about 0.65 t of CCMP goes into a tonne of imidacloprid.

Three things to know

1. Fruit and vegetables take about 30% of insecticide spending because high-value crops justify frequent sprays.
2. The EU banned outdoor use of three neonicotinoids in 2018 and did not renew chlorpyrifos in 2020.
3. Diamides like chlorantraniliprole need about 8-10 synthesis steps, and their prices fell as patents expired.

The journey

1. 1 Base chemicalsBenzene, toluene, pyridine, chlorine, phosphorus
2. 2 Key intermediatesCCMP for neonicotinoids, pyrethroid acid chlorides
3. 3 Technical synthesisMultistep batch chemistry to 95-98% purity
4. 4 FormulationEmulsions, suspensions, granules and sachets
5. 5 Crop protectionSprayed on fruit, vegetables, soybeans, rice

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