A new report published by Allied Market Research titled, “World Seed Treatment Market – Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 – 2021”, states that the world seed treatment market would generate a revenue of $7.8 billion by 2021. The insecticide segment held a dominant share in this market in 2015 and is expected to maintain its leading position during forecast period. The cereals & grains crop segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period.
The world seed treatment market is expected to grow at a substantial pace due to its cost effectiveness and efficiency over traditional pesticides making it at better crop protection solution. The cost associated with agrochemicals application for seed treatment is low as only seed’s surface needs to be covered with agrochemicals as compared to spraying or a soil application. Factors that fuel the market growth are increasing prices of genetically modified (GM) crops, rapidly growing population, rising food requirement and need for crop protection with emergence of new pest and diseases. Furthermore, high investment in commercial and value-added seeds are augmenting the growth of the seed treatment market in order to ensure better performance.
The insecticide segment contributed for more than half of the market share in the overall market in 2015. The attribute of ability to formulate with the combination of two or more seed treatment chemicals, such as combination of two insecticide or combination of insecticide and fungicide, has led to an extensive use of insecticide in seed treatment. Along with this, its potential to manage several early-season insects effectively is another reason attributed to its sustained dominance in the seed treatment market. Thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, and clothianidin are few leading active ingredients used in insecticides, which belong to the neonicotinoid of insecticides. Bio-control seed treatment is widely preferred owing to its non-toxic nature and its favorable effects on yield. Bio-control seed treatment helps to increase crops efficiency in nutrient uptake and protect the crops with minimum no residue. It is the fastest growing segment and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.3% during the forecast period.
The use of seed treatment in the cereals & grains segment would continue to dominate the market from 2014 to 2021. This is primarily due to the high global production of grains such as corn, rice, and wheat. The growth in these crop productions is associated with the adoption of modern agricultural technology in farming. These crops are widely treated against seed and soil-borne insects, diseases, and nematodes.

Key findings of the study:
• The cereals & grains segment is projected to be the fastest growing crop type segment in the world seed treatment market, registering a CAGR of 8.3% from 2015 to 2021.
• The insecticide application segment would continue to dominate the world seed treatment market throughout the forecast period.
• Germany is expected to grow with the highest CAGR of 10.5%.
• North America and Europe are the dominating regions collectively accounting for two third of the total market.
• The LAMEA seed treatment market is estimated to be the fastest growing region in world seed treatment market, registering a CAGR of 9.7%.
• Argentina is projected to be fastest growing country in LAMEA seed treatment market.
High investment for GM seed and consumer’s preference towards the consumption of chemical free food in the developed economies such as North America and Europe are fuelling increased demand for seed treatment, particularly bio-control seed treatment. The LAMEA seed treatment market would offer lucrative growth opportunities during the forecast period owing to the availability of large area under cultivation, growth in agricultural sector, and presence of potential growing economies such as Brazil and Argentina.
Key companies profiled in this report are BASF, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta AG, DuPont, Chemtura Corporation, Monsanto, Novozymes A/S, Nufarm Limited, Valent USA Corporation, and Sumitomo Chemical Company.