Hyderabad, Jan. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the back of the need to increase yields and mitigate increasing biotic and abiotic stresses, the demand for commercial seeds witnessed a robust growth in emerging and developed markets. To address this demand, seed companies focused on product innovations by launching newer hybrids and investing in R&D to develop unique traits that will provide them an edge in the highly competitive market. This trend will continue to drive the growth of the seed market at CAGR of 4.21% during 2022-2028.
In 2021, Asia-Pacific was the largest market and accounted for 42% of the global seed market. The United States, China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, and Japan constitute the largest seed markets. However, with increasing commercialization of agriculture, Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia will emerge as big opportunities, says Avinash Desamangalam, Research Manager at Mordor Intelligence.
“Shifting end-consumer preferences is a trend to watch out for in the seed market. While farmer needs have remained the focal point of product strategies, companies have started focusing on traits related to the end-product such as shelf life, physical attributes, cooking and milling quality, and so on, especially in vegetables. At a global level, over 30% of the hybrids in tomato are marketed by showcasing longer shelf life of the end-product as a trait. In row crops, resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses still dominate the breeding objectives of seed companies.”
Avinash says that the similarities in the agroecological challenges among different emerging economies is increasingly globalizing the seed distribution and trade. With an emphasis on quality at all stages of seed production, major players are able to withstand strict phytosanitary regulations in most markets. This has led to a growth in international trade in seeds, which is projected at a CAGR of 5.4% over 2022-2028.
There is a high potential for inorganic growth in the row crops segment with more GMO approvals. While company product pipelines are ready with a go-to-market strategy for transgenic seeds in crops such as rice and oilseeds, delays in approval by governments in key growth markets such as India and Thailand are restraining the explosive growth.
Increasing instances of Mergers & Acquisitions and Partnerships between companies are also projected to lead to a rise in inorganic growth in revenues of major players. Such partnerships are also expected to be aimed at addressing gaps in the technological footprint of these companies.
In February 2022, Corteva Agriscience acquired the Clearfield Canola Production System in Canada and the United States from BASF, for an undisclosed amount. The system is a globally recognized non-genetically modified herbicide tolerance (HT) system, consisting of an herbicide tolerance trait and Imidazolinone (IMI) herbicides. In July 2022, the company entered into a partnership with BASF and MS Technologies to develop next-generation Enlist E3 soybeans with the nematode resistant soybean (NRS) trait for farmers in the United States and Canada.
