Staple Crops like Maize and Rice Big Market for Seed Treatment Products

Author: Sathish Kumar

The process of seed treatment works for maximizing the plant’s generic potential through bespoke solutions, which need a combination of crop protection, innovation and crop solution techniques. Of these, the first encompasses conventional techniques of foliar and seed disinfection, the second involves existing techniques for enhancing seed vitality through innovative application technologies and the third covers crop management through using innovative technology for genetics/traits. The global seed treatment market was worth around $4.2 billion in 2015 and is expected to cross $6.4 billion by 2020 growing at the CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period 2015-2020.

In the present condition, necessity of food production increases while the agriculture land availability is shrinking. This global phenomenon propels farmers to look at improvising the productivity of land mass while working through the limited resources. This scenario is acting positively towards growth of seed treatment market. Seed price fluctuation, weather volatility and greater use of multicomponent products are the major factors driving the market. Important crop types that need most of the seed treatment support globally are Corn/Maize, Soybeans, Wheat, Rice, Canola, Cotton etc. The consumption of treatment products crop wise depends on the importance of that particular crop for world food safety; that said majority of demand comes from cereals & grains followed by oil seed crops.

Corn: Out of two major forms, Yellow maize constitutes the bulk of world production and international trade. Northern hemisphere countries like USA, Mexico produce most of the global maize. With the increasing need of this crop both for consumption and industrial purpose, global demand for seed treatment in corn/maize crop is expected to register a 2015-2020 CAGR of 8.9%. Fungi like- Phytium, Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Ustilago maydis and insects like corn borer, wireworm, tanimecchus and fruit fly get attention from seed treatment options. North America is the largest market for seed treatment in corn/maize, though growth in demand for the same in the region is likely to be the slowest.

Soybeans: Global soybean production is highly concentrated, with some 80 percent originating in three countries alone: the United States, Brazil and Argentina. Both as an oil crop and a highly traded commercial commodity, commercial production of genetically modified soybeans has increased fast in recent years. The seed treatment market for soybean is sure to grow at a faster rate of 9.5% in next five years.

Rice: More than half of the global rice production is concentrated in China and India alone. Most used seed treatment products applicable for this crop are Mefenoxam, Thiamethoxam. Common pests like Rice water weevil, Grape colaspis and common diseases like Pythium can be prevented using above products. Seed treatment in rice holds utmost importance as it saves and provides us with our daily bowl of staples.

Cotton: Accounting for about 35% of all fibers produced, cotton is universally used as a textile raw material. The crop’s commercial viability makes it necessary to save it from pest and disease effectively through extensive application of seed treatment products and solutions. Abemectin and Larvin, Imidacloprid, thiamethoxam are some of the popular options for seed protection in this category.

For full report, visit: http://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/global-seed-treatment-market-2015-2020-industry