Plant growth regulators, also known as plant hormones are chemicals occurring in low concentrations, which promote plant growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the plant. Various plant growth regulators such as cytokinins, auxins, and mepiquat chloride are used in certain agriculture and pharmaceutical applications.
Auxins are widely used in positively influencing root initiation, bud formation, and cell enlargement. They also promote the production of other hormones and in conjunction with cytokinins, they control the growth of fruits, roots and stems, and convert stems into flowers. Due to the current trend in revival of herbal medicines, demand for medicinal plants is on the rise leading to destructive harvesting which in turn led to reduction and even extinction of several rare medicinal plants. Auxins have proved to increase the productivity and growth characteristics of numerous plants. Thus, the growing demand for herbal medicine at a global level is expected to drive the demand for auxins. Owing to these factors, demand for auxins is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period.
Auxins are produced within the plant itself. Hence, certain PGR manufacturers use raw materials in the form of various higher plants such as vascular plants, and microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi from farmers, chemical companies, and R&D labs which are later used for manufacturing plant growth regulators.