A recent study projects the global market for crop protection chemicals to grow alongside the world's population.
According to analysis by Research and Markets, projects that the market for herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and biopesticides will increase at compound annual growth rate of 4.71 percent between 2014 and 2019.
In future decades, meanwhile, the increase in the human population — which should eclipse the 9 billion threshold in 2050 — will reduce the amount of available arable land at the same time that demand for food increases.
Soil erosion and pollution will also help diminish arable land, the report said, while rising incomes in developing nations will result in additional consumption of meat and dairy products — both of which rely heavily on grains.
Government policies regarding food security and greater use of biofuels will compound the problem as well.
Although each of those factors will heighten the pressure to increase crop yields, the pesticide market is expected to be hindered somewhat by regulations banning certain chemicals, as well as the growth of the organic food industry.
