The Biggest Seed and Crop Protection Companies

Published September 30, 2026 · Updated October 3, 2026 · 5 min read

Before a field produces corn, soybeans or wheat, a farmer buys two things from this industry: seed, often hybrid or genetically improved, and crop protection products - herbicides against weeds, fungicides against plant diseases and insecticides against pests. Most large companies sell both. These were the ten largest by revenue in their latest fiscal year:

Revenue in the latest fiscal year, converted to US dollars at average exchange rates where reported in other currencies ("c."). For Bayer, BASF and Sumitomo Chemical only the agricultural division or segment is shown; Sumitomo's segment also includes household insecticides and feed additives. Syngenta Group includes Syngenta Group China (with fertilizer and farm retail) and the generics maker ADAMA. UPL and Sumitomo: year to March 2026; Nufarm: to September 2025; Vilmorin and KWS: to June 2025. Sources: company annual results.

The ten companies in brief

Syngenta Group

Syngenta was formed in 2000 in Basel from the agricultural businesses of Novartis and AstraZeneca and was bought in 2017 by the Chinese state group ChemChina, now part of Sinochem. Syngenta Group also includes the generics maker ADAMA and Sinochem's Chinese agricultural business; it sells crop protection, seeds and, in China, fertilizer and farm services.

Bayer Crop Science

The agricultural division of Germany's Bayer, based in Monheim, became one of the two largest seed companies with the takeover of Monsanto in 2018. It sells Dekalb corn and Asgrow soybean seed and herbicides such as Roundup; in the US it faces many lawsuits claiming that glyphosate causes cancer, which Bayer disputes, citing regulators' assessments.

Corteva

Corteva was spun off in 2019 from the merger of Dow and DuPont and is based in Indianapolis. On 1 October 2026, just after the figures in the table, it split in two: the seed business with the Pioneer brand now trades separately as Vylor, while the crop protection business keeps the Corteva name.

BASF Agricultural Solutions

The agricultural division of BASF, based in Ludwigshafen, makes fungicides, herbicides and insecticides and, since buying seed and herbicide businesses Bayer had to sell in 2018, also seeds such as InVigor canola. BASF is preparing to list a minority stake in the division in Frankfurt, possibly in 2027.

UPL

Founded in 1969 in Mumbai as United Phosphorus and controlled by the Shroff family, UPL is listed in India and is the largest Indian crop protection company. It concentrates on off-patent (generic) active ingredients and grew internationally with the purchase of Arysta LifeScience in 2019.

Sumitomo Chemical (Agro & Life)

The Japanese chemical group, based in Tokyo, sells insecticides, fungicides and herbicides worldwide, including in North America through its subsidiary Valent, and also makes household insecticides and feed additives. It is a major shareholder in Nufarm.

FMC

Founded in 1883 in California as a maker of spray pumps and now based in Philadelphia and listed in New York, FMC concentrates entirely on crop protection, especially insecticides. In 2025 it decided to sell its business in India as part of a cost-cutting programme.

Nufarm

Founded in 1916 in Melbourne and listed in Australia, Nufarm mainly sells off-patent herbicides, fungicides and insecticides in Australia, the Americas and Europe. Its seed business, Nuseed, breeds canola, sorghum and sunflower and produces a canola that yields omega-3 oil.

Vilmorin & Cie (Limagrain)

Vilmorin goes back to a Paris seed shop opened in 1743 and has belonged entirely to Limagrain, a cooperative of French farmers, since it was taken off the stock exchange in 2023. It is one of the largest vegetable-seed companies and also breeds field crops such as corn and wheat under the LG brand.

KWS

Founded in 1856 in Einbeck, Lower Saxony, and listed in Frankfurt, KWS is controlled by its founding families. It began with sugar beet, where it is the world market leader, and also breeds corn, cereals and vegetables; it does not sell crop protection products.

Four groups after a wave of mergers

The industry's shape is the result of a series of mergers between 2015 and 2018: Dow and DuPont merged and spun off their farm business as Corteva, the state-owned ChemChina bought Syngenta, and Bayer took over Monsanto, selling parts of its own seed and herbicide business to BASF as a condition for approval. Since then four groups - Syngenta, Bayer, Corteva and BASF - have led both seed and crop protection. Supporters point to the money needed for research, since developing a new active ingredient takes years; critics point to fewer choices and less price competition for farmers.

Patents and generics

Crop protection has two tiers. New active ingredients are protected by patents and sold mainly by the large research-based groups. Once patents expire, generic makers can produce the same substance; much of the world's generic output comes from China and India, where companies such as UPL are based. When Chinese factories produced too much after 2022, generic prices fell sharply and distributors reduced stocks, which hit sales across the industry - one reason FMC's revenue fell by 18% in 2025. Seeds work differently: hybrid corn and vegetable seed must be bought anew each season, while many farmers still save their own wheat seed.

Regulation and farm costs

Approval rules differ widely between countries. Genetically modified crops are grown on a large scale in the Americas but hardly at all in the EU, and pesticides such as glyphosate face different decisions and court cases in different countries. For farmers, seed and crop protection are, alongside fertilizer, the main input costs per hectare, which is why they matter for profitability when grain prices fall. The fertilizer side is covered in The Biggest Fertilizer Companies, and the whole chain in The Biggest Companies in Agribusiness.