Grain Seed Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The demand for food is governed by human population growth, economic growth, livestock population, and animal feed. With the rising population coupled with higher demand for food is creating the need to increase productivity as the urbanization is resulting in decreased cultivable land area. For instance, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization, in 2016, the area under cultivation of cereals was 733.06 million ha, which decreased to 728.09 million ha by 2018, globally. Additionally, the global cereal yield was 41,131 hg/ha in 2017, which decreased to 40,694 hg/ha in 2018. To increase the productivity within the available cultivable area, use of quality seeds has a prominent role in giving better yield.

With the rising concern over the adverse climatic conditions, pest, and disease incidence, various varieties that would show tolerance have been released into the market, which ensures the crop establishment, thus giving a higher yield. For instance, in 2018, Bayer has launched a hybrid rice seed, Arize AZ 8433 DT with strong inbuilt tolerance to Brown Plant Hopper (BPH) and Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB). BPH is the most destructive pest in rice-growing areas of India, and it has caused considerable losses to farmers in the 2017 Kharif season.

Asia-Pacific is the largest market for grain seeds, accounting for more than 30% of the global demand. The growing population in Asian countries, mainly in China and India, has a continuously increasing demand for food production and is driving the seed market for cereal and grains in the region. The highest increases in seed replacement rates and hybridization have been observed in countries in the Asia-Pacific, and the number of farmers utilizing high-quality seeds has increased. Asia-Pacific is expected to retain its position as the largest market over the forecast period.