Weak results from Incitec Pivot and Forest Enterprises Australia have cost agribusiness its place among Australia's most cherished sectors for equity investment.

Analysts have halved to 9.0% their forecast for returns from agribusiness shares over the next 12 months.

The revision follows a month in which returns, including dividends, fell 3.1%, twice the rate of the average of Australian share, depressed by a modest performance in shares in companies including Forest Enterprises, which unveiled a loss, and GrainCorp, whose shares were held back by a capital raise.

Shares in fertilizer group Incitec Pivot, which also slipped into the red for the year, also performed poorly for much of the period.

'Difficult season' 

The analyst downgrades have left agribusiness among sectors forecast to underperform the average over the next year, research by Commonwealth Bank of Australia showed.

"We've seen investor confidence slip," Brendan White, executive general manager of CBA agribusiness said, noting a "difficult reporting season".

"Several companies in the index reported net losses and are in the midst of completing capital raisings."

However, he added that agriculture's "solid" fundamentals should revive investor confidence "over time, resulting in more positive returns for investors".