Market Trends of asia-pacific forage seed Industry
An increase in demand for high-quality fodder from dairy farms and easier maintenance of forage crops is driving the area under cultivation
- The major forage crops grown in the Asia-Pacific region include alfalfa, forage sorghum, forage corn, and other grasses. Forage crops accounted for about 1.7% of the region's total row crop cultivation area in 2022. The total forage area decreased from 2016 to 2019 due to the crop shift to other profitable crops, including soybeans and corn. However, the increasing demand for forage from livestock and the development of the dairy industry caused the increase in area from 2020 to 2022. Therefore, the area increased by about 3.2% between 2020 and 2022.
- Alfalfa is one of the major forage crops cultivated in the region, with an area of 6.5 million hectares in 2022. The area under alfalfa increased by 0.4% between 2017 and 2022. Increase in acreages due to its exceptional capacity to produce abundant amounts of protein and attractive forage under various weather and soil conditions. Additionally, In 2022, the area under forage sorghum cultivation was 2.9 million hectares. India accounted for 93.4% of forage sorghum cultivation in the region, with 2.7 million ha in 2022. High livestock population and rising demand for animal forage are the main factors leading to increased cultivation. For instance, the number of cattle in India increased from 190.4 million stocks in 2017 to 193.4 million in 2021.
- In Asia-Pacific, India has the largest area under forage crops, accounting for 52.9% of the forage crop acreage because of the country's high demand from the livestock industry. Therefore, these factors force farmers to expand the area under forage crops to meet the demand, thereby increasing the sales of forage seeds.
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Increasing demand for fodder in livestock farming is driving the usage of hybrid forage seeds having disease resistant, wider adaptability, and early maturity traits
- Alfalfa and forage corn are the major forage crops because of their benefits to livestock rearing, such as more digestibility and high protein. They also allow farmers to attain greater yields without sacrificing quality. Wider adaptability for alfalfa was the largest adopted trait as there have been weather changes, high demand for early maturity, and low lignin content in a single product to minimize the usage of different inputs.
- The most common and harmful fungal diseases of alfalfa are fusarium and brown spot. They can reduce the productivity of plants by 30% or more. Therefore, the demand for alfalfa varieties with disease-resistant traits increases for alfalfa growers to achieve higher productivity. Additionally, alfalfa with low lignin traits is cultivated in Japan as the low-lignin trait alfalfa is highly digestible, and it offers a 15-20% increase in yield. Therefore, the demand for alfalfa with low lignin traits is expected to increase in the region during the forecast period.
- Forage corn with high yield potential, drought tolerance, disease tolerance, early maturity, and lodging tolerance traits are in high demand. Among these traits, the early maturity trait had the largest share as it has a high demand in the livestock industry. To meet this demand, the growers cultivate the crop in the off-season and reduce the cultivating period to normal cultivation by 1-2 weeks than normal cultivation. For instance, Land O' Lakes provides about 44 products with drought tolerance and early maturity traits.
- To prevent the increasing losses from diseases and increase productivity in a shorter period, the seeds with traits such as disease resistance, early maturity, and drought tolerance are fueling the market's growth.
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OTHER KEY INDUSTRY TRENDS COVERED IN THE REPORT
- Hybrid breeding technology dominated the market because it can breed hybrid varieties with higher resistance to pests and diseases
