While human therapeutics dominate the phage therapy market with 42.56% share in 2025, non-human applications are emerging as high-growth segments that align with global One-Health objectives. Veterinary medicine represents a significant expansion opportunity, with phage therapies being developed for livestock, companion animals, and aquaculture to reduce antibiotic usage and combat resistant bacterial infections. The agricultural sector is adopting phage-based biocontrol agents at an accelerating pace, with agriculture and crop protection applications growing at the fastest CAGR of 6.02% through 2035. In 2025, more than 15,000 phage applications were deployed in crop fields and horticultural initiatives, reflecting growing awareness of the advantages phages offer as sustainable alternatives to chemical pesticides. These applications target plant pathogens such as Erwinia, Xanthomonas, and Pseudomonas species that cause significant crop losses worldwide.

Food safety and preservation represents another critical non-human application, with bacteriophage products demonstrating the ability to reduce Salmonella contamination rates by 31% in food processing environments. Phage Therapy Market research indicates that phage treatments for foodborne pathogens are gaining regulatory approval in multiple jurisdictions, with applications spanning meat processing, dairy production, and fresh produce sanitation. Aquaculture is increasingly adopting phage therapies to control bacterial infections in farmed fish and shellfish, addressing the challenge of antibiotic resistance transmission from aquatic environments to human pathogens. Over 14,000 phage applications were implemented on farms and food production units in 2025, indicating rapid commercialization in the agricultural space and strong potential for continued expansion.

The One-Health approach recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, and phage therapy is uniquely positioned to address this paradigm. By reducing antibiotic usage across human medicine, veterinary practice, and agriculture, phage therapies can slow the development and transmission of resistant bacteria across species boundaries. Agricultural enterprises are the fastest-growing end-user segment at 5.97% CAGR, supported by the need for environmentally friendly bacterial control in crops and livestock. The integration of phage therapy into comprehensive antimicrobial stewardship programs across human and animal health sectors is creating synergistic benefits that extend beyond individual therapeutic applications. As regulatory frameworks for veterinary and agricultural phage products mature, and as consumer demand for antibiotic-free food products increases, the non-human segments of the phage therapy market are poised to capture an increasing share of total industry revenue.

Q1: How fast is the agricultural phage therapy segment growing? Agriculture and crop protection applications are the fastest-growing segment at 6.02% CAGR, with over 15,000 field applications in 2025.

Q2: What role do phages play in food safety? Bacteriophage products reduce Salmonella contamination by 31% in food processing and are gaining regulatory approval for meat, dairy, and produce applications.

Q3: How does phage therapy support One-Health objectives? By reducing antibiotic use across human, animal, and agricultural sectors, phage therapy slows resistance development and transmission across species boundaries.