The pesticides industry has grown by 7.6 per cent during the last 20 years. It has also undergone a structural change from low value products to high value products. The major constituents of this industry are technical grade material manufacturers, formulators, and dealers. In this article, U K Srivastava and N T Patel analyse the growth of the pesticides industry, the changes in the product mix, the problems of the constituents, and the marketing scenario. According to them, there is vast scope for accelerating pesticides consumption by diversifying to hitherto untapped regions and crops. This, however, calls for a major market development effort on the part of the industry. U K Srivastava is Professor and N T Patel is Research Associate in the Centre for Management in Agriculture at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Pesticides are broadly classified into five major groups: insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, and fumigants. The constituents of this industry include technical grade material manufacturers, formulators, dealers (sale points), and consumers. This article attempts to highlight the growth of the pesticides industry, changes in the product mix, market concentration, flow of materials, problems of various constituents, and the emerging market scenario. Growth of Pesticides Industry Since 1952, considerable emphasis has been given to self-reliance in the production of technical grade pes- ticides. The installed capacity increased from 19,280 tonnes in 1966 to 1,02,328 tonnes in 1985-86 (Table 1) showing an 8.3 per cent annual rate of growth. Produc- tion of technical grade pesticides has increased from 13,948 tonnes in 1966 to 54,918 tonnes in 1985-86. Actual production as a proportion of installed capacity has declined from 72.34 per cent in 1966 to 53.67 per cent in 1985-86. The rates of growth of actual production in quantity and value terms are shown in the following estimated equations: logY= 9.636 + 0.0761 ...(1) (15.99)* R 2 = 0.93 Growth rate = 7.67 per cent (in quantity terms) log Y = 7.384 + 0.12611 .... (2) (15.16)* R 2 = 0.97 Growth rate = 12.61 per cent (in value terms) *Figures in brackets indicate t values. The growth rate in value terms is about 1.66 times of the growth rate in quantity terms. A more important feature is that the weightage of two low value products BHC and DDT has come down from 82.3 per cent in Vol.15, No.2, April-June 1990 23