Launch of IBMA membership survey, updated biocontrol industry outlook will be available by mid-2021

BRUSSELS, Belgium: The International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) is launching its annual membership survey. IBMA calls on its member companies to contribute detailed company information in a survey conducted by a market research agency, bound by a strict code of conduct. Company data remain confidential, consolidated data will provide a reliable and up-to-date picture of the state of the biocontrol industry by mid-2021.

Herman van Mellaert, IBMA President says: “ It is important to show the strength of our industry. Europe’s farm to fork policy sets out clear ambitions for the reduction of the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030 and pledges to pave the way for non-chemical alternatives. The Sustainable Use Directive, a key piece of legislation to achieve these Farm to Fork objectives is under revision right now. By contributing to the survey, our members help us deliver a strong statement to all stakeholders based on up-to-date market information : the biocontrol market is thriving and our industry is ready to deliver the natural solutions that will underpin a broad roll-out of integrated pest management. At the same time, this will be a call on our authorities: proportionate regulation facilitating the introduction of such solutions while guaranteeing safety is crucial.”

The 2018 survey helped us bring out a few very important messages, says Jennifer Lewis, IBMA Executive Director. She highlights four of them:

1. The European biocontrol market reached the 1 Bio € mark in 2018 (1.015 bn Euro) across its four product categories invertebrate biocontrol agents, microbial biopesticides, pheromones/kairomones and natural substances. That supports the assessment of other published market research with hard data.
2. IBMA members developing and manufacturing biocontrol showed spectacular growth between 2016 and 2018 in each of those four product categories.
3. The biocontrol industry is characterised by a vibrant SME segment (more than 80 % of IBMA members) but also a strong interest of large crop protection companies. That’s a great setting for successful innovation.
4. The industry commercialises an impressive range of over 1000 biocontrol products across Europe and there’s a rich pipeline of new actives and product formats : members indicate that 140 products are at various stages of the authorisation process and a further 120 are in development but not yet submitted.”

Jennifer Lewis concludes :”We’re looking forward to the results of our 2021 survey. It will be a valuable assessment of how the market evolves, which we will widely share. Giving authorities and other stakeholders a clear insight into the state of affairs of our industry will demonstrate that we’re an essential partner to reach the goals laid out under the farm-to-policy. We’re convinced it will also contribute to enable important evolutions in legislative and regulatory processes which are equally essential to reach the EU and IBMA common goals.”