Fertigation and Chemigation Market

Market Overview

The global fertigation and chemigation market size was valued at USD 12.5 billion in 2022. It is anticipated to reach an expected value of USD 25.4 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 8.2% during the forecast period (2023-2031).

Fertigation and chemigation systems help reduce water and fertilizer use, reduce production costs, and improve crop quality. Fertilizer consumption has increased over the past several years owing to the need to increase agricultural production. However, the lack of knowledge about fertilizer usage hurts human health and soil. Due to the high use of fertilizers, soil fertility and productivity could be better impacted in some regions. Most of the nutritional value within the soil is lost owing to the lack of proper fertilizer management, which leads to leaching, resulting in farmers' losses. They need to get the expected benefits from fertilizers, and their production costs are increasing due to the high usage of fertilizers. Furthermore, over 70% of the world's water is used by agriculture, and water availability is declining in many regions. Innovative irrigation techniques are needed to mitigate these challenges. 

Many companies offer automated fertigation solutions that help reduce labor costs and easily detect crop nutrient deficiency through sensors. Through automated solutions in the field, fertigation and chemigation activities can be better monitored and managed. Irrigation software such as Spruce, Rubbicon's FarmConnect, and Hydrawise remotely control field activities. It can be strategically planned how and when the irrigation or fertigation must be undertaken, leading to more transparency in the field and increased agricultural and water efficiency. The growth in the global market is expected to be driven by the increased adoption of fertigation and chemigation systems to increase agricultural production with reduced production costs. Furthermore, government initiatives to promote water conservation are expected to boost market growth over the projected timespan.

Highlights

• Drip subsegment dominates the technique segment.
• Agricultural subsegment dominates the crop segment.
• Europe is the most significant shareholder in the global market.

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

High Nutrient Utilization Efficiency through Fertigation Compared to Other Methods

Fertilizers are essential in agriculture to increase crop yield. The purpose of fertilizer applications is to balance nutrients necessary for a plant to grow and yield adequately. The absence or insufficiency of any nutrient limits the growth of the plant. Fertilizer is also one of the more expensive inputs. Methods of fertilizer application can save fertilizer and increase yield in agricultural production. Therefore, the fertilizers distribution method is fundamental in agriculture. Fertilizer distribution and availability depend on fertilizer selection and application, uniformity of water application, and the characteristics of the water and fertilizers in the soil. A uniform distribution of fertilizer is essential to increasing fertilizer efficiency. Broadcasting, drilling, foliar application, and fertigation are the four main fertilizer application methods. Fertilizer is either broadcast manually or introduced into the irrigation system.

Fertigation is the continuous application of plant nutrients along with irrigation water. Through fertigation, fertilizer uses efficiency ranges between 80% and 90%, helping to save a minimum of 25% of nutrients. Water and nutrients are supplied near the root zone through fertilization, resulting in more excellent crop absorption. Through fertigation, water and fertilizer can be provided evenly to all crops, resulting in a 25%-50% higher yield owing to which more and more growers give fertilizers to crops through fertigation.

No Labor Requirement

Fertigation is a modern agriculture technique that provides an excellent opportunity to maximize yield and minimize environmental pollution by increasing fertilizer use efficiency, minimizing fertilizer application, and increasing return on the fertilizer invested. In fertigation, fertilizers' timing, amount, and concentration are easily controlled. Farmers often use excess water, which makes crops underfed. Dry fertilizer is applied periodically, perhaps once, twice, or thrice a year, because it requires much labor. The fertilizer is then stored in the soil. However, most of it is leached, washed, below the root zone, and lost, never to be used by the plant.

It is estimated that over 80% may be lost unless expensive time-release fertilizer is used. If a time-release fertilizer is used, only 50% is lost. However, the cost and savings still balance to a significant loss. On average, dry fertilizer loses up to 80% of its effectiveness, and labor is expensive. On the other hand, fertigation loses only 5% and has no extra labor or equipment cost after installation. So, labor costs can be eliminated by fertigation, and labor availability is reduced in most countries.

Market Restraint

Lack of Awareness Regarding Fertigation in Emerging and Underdeveloped Countries

Only some farmers from emerging and underdeveloped countries know about the benefits of fertigation. Limited companies work in this field in these countries, and government promotion regarding advanced farming or water-saving technologies needs to be improved. The rising demand for food across the globe requires the current farm equipment to be enhanced to improve yield and efficiency. Farmers worldwide need more technical expertise and awareness about new farm equipment, making them reluctant to adopt it. The adoption of innovative irrigation and fertigation equipment requires coordination between different members of the value chain. The market needs consultants to guide growers about new farming techniques. Farmers in the U.S. have shown great interest in using advanced irrigation and fertigation equipment. Apart from the U.S., other developed countries such as Germany, Israel, Canada, and Australia have also shown significant interest in advanced fertigation and chemigation equipment. However, this awareness must be seen in emerging and underdeveloped economies, incredibly underdeveloped countries.

The agriculture industry is the major contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries such as China, India, and Brazil. However, despite abundant resources, the lack of knowledge regarding advanced, mechanized, and automated equipment has hindered these regions from reaching their potential yields. The farmers operating on small-scale farms need more infrastructure to implement advanced agricultural equipment. They often find them complicated and may not consider them worth investing in. Low-income levels of farmers and limited education pose a significant threat to the adoption of advanced farming equipment. It requires a combined effort from the government and the firms involved to educate the farmers about these technologies and help them switch from conventional practices to modernized solutions.

Market Opportunities

Growth in Controlled Environment Agriculture

Growing plants inside a controlled environment are known as controlled environment agriculture. Here, the grower can control temperature, humidity, and other aspects of the plant's growth environment. In addition, it minimizes exposure to outdoor pests, pollution, and unpredictable extreme weather. Vertical farming, greenhouse, etc., are some examples of controlled environment agriculture, and the area under it has been continuously growing for the past several years. Due to the controlled environment, agriculture growers can grow crops in previously barren places, regardless of climate, season, or conditions. The result is greater yields without waiting for the seasons to change, and it turns seasonal work into full-time employment in much better conditions. Similarly, controlled environment agriculture addresses soil degradation issues with hydroponics and aeroponics. It allows growers to grow more food in far less space and will enable growers to feed a growing population.

Compared to traditional farming, fertigation penetration in controlled environment agriculture is very high. In a controlled environment, agriculture area is limited, and mostly, cash crops are grown, due to which infrastructure cost is not an issue. Most of the greenhouses have fertigation infrastructure, and crops grown in it need precise fertigation and chemigation, owing to which fertigation and chemigation equipment demand for conservatories are very high compared to open field agriculture. As the area is under a controlled environment, agriculture increases demand for fertigation equipment will increase. Companies like Autogrow offer advanced fertigation and chemigation solutions for greenhouses or vertical farming. The company provides a Multigrow controller that can schedule eight growing zones simultaneously. More multinational companies need to come forward to offer innovative and advanced fertigation and chemigation solutions for controlled environment agriculture.

Regional Analysis

Europe Dominates the Global Market

Based on region, the global market is segmented into North America, South America, Europe, the U.K., the Middle East and Africa, and China.

Europe dominated the global market and is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period. Europe is among the leading food producers across the world. The European agricultural industry has developed in various areas to improve its present status in terms of agriculture. However, the farmland in the region has been shrinking in the past decades due to conversion into artificial land. This trend has also led to a decrease in the number of farms and an increase in the average size of farms. The European agricultural sector has also been severely affected by unpredictable climate change and significant weather events. Occurrences of heavy rainfall, hail, floods, and droughts have led to reduced yields in the region. Thus, to fulfill the demand for increased food production, simultaneously reduce imports, and increase jobs, the European farming industry uses fertigation and chemigation solutions to increase productivity.

China is expected to register a CAGR of 9% during the forecast period. China has the world's largest population, which stood at 1.447 billion in 2021, according to Worldometes. The high population in the country leads to a high food demand, which is expected to increase the emphasis on fertigation and chemigation solutions in China to cater to the population's food demands. Also, leading irrigation solution providers in China are expected to drive the growth and development of China's fertigation and chemigation market in the forecast period.

North America is the third largest region. North America is among the most technologically advanced areas of the world. Many companies in this region provide automated and cloud-based fertigation and chemigation solutions. The companies in the area actively develop modern products that identify nutrient deficiency and prepare fertigation schedules accordingly. Also, the government and regulatory bodies in the region have been actively working to manage water use effectively, thereby decreasing water wastage. Irrigation is an integral part of conventional and modern farming techniques. Irrigation also has applications for agricultural purposes such as residential, sports grounds, turf, and landscape. Due to the presence of advanced irrigation and fertigation equipment providers in the North American region, along with government initiatives driving the sector, the fertigation and chemigation market in the North American area is expected to grow manifold during the forecast period.

Segmental Analysis

The global fertigation and chemigation market is bifurcated by product and application. 

By product, the global market is bifurcated into technique (drip and others) and input (fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, and others). 

The drip segment (technique) dominated the global fertigation and chemigation market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period. Drip irrigation has several advantages over other irrigation methods. Water conservation and improved fertilizer management are crucial advantages (drip irrigation consumes half the sprinkler irrigation water over the growing season). Drip irrigation is an effective method as it allows water to drip slowly to the roots of the crops through various networks, such as pipes, emitters, and valves. Due to this, the loss of fertilizers and nutrients is reduced to a minimum, and the moisture content in crops can be sustained. More vegetable growers use plastic-mulched beds and drip irrigation to enhance yields and quality. Drip irrigation has proved to be the best irrigation method for vegetables grown on plastic mulch, and it has become an integral part of this production system. Since drip irrigation is the most used irrigation system, the demand for fertigation and chemigation is subsequently increasing in the drip irrigation system.

By application, the global market is bifurcated into the crop (vegetables, fruits, and others) and end-user (agriculture, horticulture, greenhouse, and others). 

The vegetable segment (crop) dominated the global fertigation and chemigation market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period. Irrigation and fertilization are the most critical components of growing vegetable crops. Utilizing the drip irrigation system allows for the same precision when applying water-soluble fertilizers. In most systems, an injector would dispense the proper amount of concentrated fertilizer solution into the drip irrigation system. Fertilizers used by side-dressing are often susceptible to leaching due to excessive amounts applied. Utilizing fertigation eliminates this issue by applying smaller pieces more frequently. It is easier to distribute fertilizers by drip or other micro-irrigation systems. Fertigation increases vegetable production with minimal fertilizers, reducing production costs and increasing farmers' profitability. Moreover, the required pesticides can be applied for pest control through chemigation.

Agriculture dominated (end-user) the global fertigation and chemigation market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period. Efficient nutrient and chemical use in agriculture involves accurate spatial and temporal placement of the applied fertilizer or chemical. Fertigation involves supplying dissolved fertilizer to crops through an irrigation system. Fertigation is commonly applied using both surface and pressurized irrigation application systems. When combined with an efficient irrigation system, nutrients, and water can be manipulated and managed to maximize marketable yield and nutrient efficiency. Soluble inorganic nutrients are usually used for fertigation. Still, applying humic substances via fertigation systems has also been found to increase root zone moisture-holding capacity in sandy soils and increase crop productivity. Fertigation and chemical usage in agriculture help increase yield with minimum fertilizer use. In addition, it also reduces labor requirements for fertilizer broadcasting and surface irrigation, thereby decreasing the production cost and increasing profits for the growers. With growing awareness and government support, fertigation and chemigation solutions' demand for agricultural end use is anticipated to proliferate during the forecast timespan.

Recent Developments

• November 2022 - Netafim, an Orbia company and a global pioneer in precision agriculture solutions unveiled the first-ever carbon credit scheme for drip-irrigated rice. This inaugural program aims to dramatically reduce methane emissions from rice cultivation to almost zero while providing additional long-term income to growers.
• October 2022 - Netafim, an Orbia business and a global leader in precision agriculture solutions, announced the opening of Mexico's most prominent agricultural plastics recycling facility in Culiacán. The facility will operate with an initial processing capacity of over 3,000 tons of plastic annually.