What Is Seed Treatment, and How and Why Is It Done?

The population, especially of developing countries, is growing rapidly, which is set to play a key role in the boom of the global population from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 9.7 billion by 2050, says the United Nations (UN). This is propelling the demand for food, the production of which is already not enough to feed the current population, and its growth is driving the rate of starvation. There are a number of reasons for inadequate crop yield, including pests and diseases, natural calamities, and urbanization and reducing farming area.

P&S Intelligence considers all these factors while forecasting significant growth of the seed treatment market revenue from around $6 billion in 2020. This is because coating or injecting seeds with chemical and biological agents makes them impervious to microbial diseases, helps ward of pests, and improves their germination. Thus, with the agrarian community turning to advanced techniques to boost the crop yield, the consumption of such agents will only increase.

Apart from food crops, seed treatment is done for cash crops, such as oilseeds, cotton, tea, coffee, and those now being used to produce biofuels. In this regard, the surging concerns over the greenhouse gas emissions due to the consumption of fossil fuels and their diminishing reserves, are driving the demand for biofuels, such as bioethanol and biodiesel. Such products are produced by fermenting the sugar found in sugarcane and other starchy plants, for which the feedstock must be of high quality, thus boosting the need for seed treatment.

Presently, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the largest seed treatment market because it is home to some of the most-agriculturally productive countries in the world, including China, India, and Vietnam. Additionally, these are also countries with huge populations, which is why the problem of starvation and malnutrition has always been big here. As a result, farmers in the region are doing all they can to boost their crop yield, especially in the face of the expanding cities, which are taking up arable land.

Thus, with the booming population and food demand, the practice of seed treatment will continue to find takers.