Farmers' perception and expenditure share on bayer crop protection products in soybean cultivation in Buldhana district
Abstract
This study explores how local farmers perceive and spend on Bayer CropScience products across Khamgaon, Nandura, and Malkapur talukas in Buldhana district, drawing insights from 90 surveyed growers. The results show that buying decisions come down to real-world performance and trust: product effectiveness came out on top (mean score 4.54), followed closely by easy market availability (4.34), brand reputation (4.29), and overall satisfaction (4.24). On the flip side, details like usage instructions, pack options, and packaging scored lowest, reflecting that growers lean far more on their local agro-dealers and personal field experience than on the fine print on the bottles. On the financial side, Bayer accounted for nearly a third (30.39%, or ₹3,70,880.75 out of ₹12,20,572.97) of the total crop-protection budget in the area, peaking in Nandura taluka at 33.42%. Looking across input categories, Bayer held its strongest ground in fungicides at 39.15%, followed by insecticides at 28.63% and herbicides at 19.40%, showing solid farmer confidence for tackling pests and diseases while leaving plenty of room to expand in weed control.
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Introduction
Crop protection chemicals insecticides, fungicides and herbicides form a core input in modern soybean cultivation, protecting yields against aggressive weeds, fungal diseases and destructive pests such as the girdle beetle. Bayer CropScience Limited, an Indian subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the leading players in India's crop protection and agribusiness sector, offering a wide portfolio of insecticides (Fame, Vayego, Alanto, Solomon), fungicides (Folicur, Buonos, Nativo) and herbicides (Whip Super, Sencor) for soybean and other field crops. Maharashtra is among the highest consumers of crop protection chemicals in India, and Buldhana district, situated in the Vidarbha region, is a major soybean-growing area. However, farmers in the district often navigate a fragmented distribution network of dealers and cooperatives, where product choice is shaped by dealer advice, credit availability, and prior field experience as much as by the product itself. Understanding how farmers perceive Bayer's products, what factors drive their purchase decisions, and how much of their overall crop protection budget is allocated to the brand offers useful insight into brand performance and adoption patterns in this region.
The present paper draws on the following objectives of the study 1. To study farmers' perception for purchase of Bayer crop science products. 2. To work out the percentage share of the Bayer product in total expenditure by farmer.
Methodology Area and period of study
The study was conducted in Buldhana district of Maharashtra, covering three talukas Khamgaon, Nandura and Malkapur with three villages selected in each taluka. Data pertains to the year 2025-26. Primary data were collected from 90 soybean farmers (30 per taluka) through personal interviews using a structured schedule.
Farmers' perception
Farmers' perception of Bayer CropScience products was assessed on a five-point Likert scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree) across twelve parameters price, quality, quantity, packaging, effectiveness, product information, market availability, expiry date, trust, use instructions, satisfaction and willingness to recommend using the Mean Preference Score:
Where, f = Frequency of each response, w = Weight assigned to the response, N = Total number of respondents.
Percentage share of Bayer product in total expenditure
The share of Bayer products in farmers' total crop protection expenditure was worked out separately for insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, using the formula:
Share percentage = [Expenditure on Bayer products by farmer / (Expenditure on other products by farmer + Expenditure on Bayer products by farmer)] × 100
Results and Discussion
Farmers' perception for purchase of Bayer crop science products attribute, obtaining the highest mean score of 4.54 and securing Rank I; 82 of the 90 respondents either agreed or strongly agreed, indicating that farmers primarily associate Bayer products with superior performance and pest control. 'Available in market' ranked second (mean score 4.34), followed by 'Trust Bayer' (4.29, Rank III) and 'Satisfied' (4.24, Rank IV), suggesting that product performance, ease of market access and brand trust are the core drivers of farmers' positive perception. 'Quality' ranked fifth (4.08) and 'Recommend to other' sixth (3.88). 'Price' secured the seventh rank (3.61); while a majority were positive, a noticeable group remained neutral or disagreed, indicating price sensitivity among smallholders. Label-related parameters 'Use Instruction' (3.54, Rank VIII), 'Expiry Date' (3.52, Rank IX) and 'Product information' (3.36, Rank X) received moderate ratings, with a large share of neutral responses suggesting farmers rely more on prior experience or dealer advice than on reading chemical labels. 'Quantity' (3.32) and 'Packaging' (3.29) received the lowest scores, ranking eleventh and twelfth respectively, pointing to room for more varied and convenient pack sizes.
The results reveal that 'Effectiveness' was the most highly rated 3.29 XII Note: SD = Strongly Disagree, D = Disagree, N = Neutral, A = Agree, SA = Strongly Agree.
Percentage share of bayer product in total expenditure by farmer
Expenditure on crop protection products constitutes a major part of a farmer's overall input budget during the cropping season. The share of Bayer CropScience products in this expenditure, relative to all other agrochemical brands, was worked out separately for the three sampled talukas Khamgaon, Nandura and Malkapur and then for Buldhana district as a whole.
(a) Khamgaon taluka Among the 30 surveyed farmers in Khamgaon taluka, total agrochemical expenditure stood at ₹5,86,415.86, of which ₹1,76,037.90 was spent specifically on Bayer products a 30.02 per cent value share of the overall crop protection spend. Category-wise, Bayer performed strongest in fungicides, capturing 39.60 per cent of fungicide spending (₹79,488.00 out of ₹2,00,688.00). It secured a 26.20 per cent share in insecticides (₹73,449.90 out of ₹2,80,309.86) and a 21.91 per cent share in herbicides (₹23,100.00 out of ₹1,05,418.00), showing a consistent farmer preference for the brand across all three input segments.
Conclusions
Farmers in Buldhana district hold a strongly positive perception of Bayer CropScience products, driven primarily by high field effectiveness, ready market availability and brand trust, while price, packaging aesthetics and labelrelated instructions receive comparatively lower, mixed ratings indicating reliance on personal experience and dealer guidance over printed details. Product adoption across the region shows that consistent retail availability, dependable quality and brand reputation are the critical determinants governing actual field use. Bayer CropScience commands a substantial 30.39 per cent value share of the total crop protection expenditure in the district, demonstrating its strongest dominance in the fungicide segment, followed by insecticides, and recording its lowest penetration in herbicides, which highlights weed management as the principal segment with the greatest scope for expanding future market share.
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