Rising concerns over food and water safety globally continue to increase the need for testing contaminants, thereby generating strong demand for agricultural and environmental diagnostics.

Myriad of contaminants are discovered in food, water, and products such as poultry, fruits, vegetables, and milk routinely used in daily life. As per the WHO estimates, contaminated food leads to about 2 billion illnesses and 1.8 million deaths every year.

Pathogens, such as E. coli, listeria, salmonella, and several others, are linked to various food borne illnesses, which affect several million individuals across the globe. Food safety testing laboratories are making the most of increasing food production and safety concerns worldwide.

The area deals with food product examination for the presence of disease-causing organisms, chemical residues, and other hazardous materials in food. Testing of food products is gaining prominence worldwide, owing to increasing consumer awareness on health concerns, growing demand for specialist diets in developed markets, and an increasing demand for cheaper, convenience food.

Europe represents the largest regional market for Agricultural and Environmental Diagnostics worldwide, as stated by the new market research report on Agricultural and Environmental Diagnostics.

The U.S. represents the second largest region, as well as the single largest market for agricultural and environmental diagnostics globally.

However, growth in the market would be led by the developing markets, including Asia-Pacific and Latin America over the analysis period. Asia-Pacific market is forecast to post a compounded annual growth rate of about 11 percent during the analysis period.

Segment wise, Microbiology Testing represents the largest as well as the fastest growing segment.

Microbiology testing market is expected to witness substantial growth in the following years, in both volume and value terms. However, value growth in the market is projected to exceed volume growth given the increasing penetration of more expensive rapid tests when compared to conventional microbiology tests. Despite the higher prices of the rapid tests, these techniques are increasingly being espoused owing to the major benefits provided by these methods, such as the ease of use and quicker results when compared to the conventional testing methods. Although conventional methods are likely to retain their dominance in the market in the foreseeable future, rapid testing methods are expected to capture more market share at the expense of conventional testing methods. Rapid tests are also expected to see rapid gains in testing volumes in the following years. However the volume growth would be outshined by value growth owing to the higher value of these tests.

The food diagnostics market faces deficit in terms of the availability of test kits that can detect all types of allergens identified by legislations in major markets. Of the major test kits, DNA tests and ELISA represent the most robust types of test kits that can identify majority of the allergens. Meanwhile, the available hand-held tests can only identify allergens such as peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, milk, shellfish, eggs and gluten in food products. DNA tests fail to detect only egg and gluten, while they can detect other allergens that ELISA and hand-held tests fail to detect. Recent testing techniques involve Immunoassay Technologies and rapid tests that replaced traditional wet chemistry, bacterial culturing, and chromatographic analysis. Initially, testing was implemented on dairy products for detecting antibiotic contaminants, while the recent focus has turned towards soil and water contaminants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and on agricultural residues, including fungicides and pesticides.

Major players profiled in the report include 3M Company, Agdia Inc., Biocontrol Systems Inc., Biomerieux SA, Charm Sciences, C-Qentec Diagnostics, Eurofins Scientific Inc., IDEXX Laboratories Inc., Neogen Corp., R-Biopharm, Strategic Diagnostics Inc., Vicam, among others.

The research report titled "Agricultural and Environmental Diagnostics: A Global Strategic Business Report" announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of the Agricultural and Environmental Diagnostics markets, current market trends, key growth drivers, recent product launches, recent industry activity, and profiles of major/niche global as well as regional market participants. The report provides annual sales estimates and projections for Agricultural and Environmental Diagnostics market for the years 2009 through 2017 for the following geographic markets - US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of World. The report also analyzes the market by the following segments - Microbiology Testing, Food Residue Testing, and Environmental Residue Testing. Also, a six-year (2003-2008) historic analysis is provided for additional perspective.

For more details about this comprehensive market research report, please visit - http://www.strategyr.com/Agricultural_and_Environmental_Diagnostics_Market_Report.asp.