(Source – Seed Quest)

Seed treatment can be defined as the application of chemical ingredients or biological organisms to the seed that enables in suppressing, controlling or repelling plant pathogens, insects, or other pests that attack seeds, seedlings or plants. The Brazilian chemical seed treatment market was worth around $390.6 million in 2015 and it is expected to cross $633.7 million by 2020 growing at the CAGR of 10.2% during the forecast period 2015-2020.

Seeding rates have been witnessing considerable diminishing, which, in turn, has provided impetus to the practice of seed treatment for preventing plant loss. Focusing greater attention on procedures that reduce risk, such as adapting to weather conditions after sowing, which makes seedlings highly vulnerable to soil-borne diseases and insects. Some major drivers of the seed treatment are crop rotations getting shorter and greater use of multi-component products. All these are driving the market for seed treatment.

Major restraints identified in this report are concerns for the environment and regulation of seed treatment market.

By application segment, insecticides constitute the largest sub-category, with an estimated 2015 share of 54.9% of chemical seed treatment demand. However, fungicide seed treatments are slated to witness the fastest CAGR of 10.4% during 2015-2020 in reaching a projected demand of US$222.3 billion by 2020.

Corn/maize is the leading type of crop for chemical seed treatment applications in Brazil, estimated to account for 21.3% of the total demand in 2015. In terms of CAGR between 2015 and 2020, however, demand for seed treatment applications in soybean is expected to be the fastest among all crop types at 11%.

Some of the major players in the market are BASF, Bayer, Syngenta, Verdesian and others. The key players are eventually focusing on agreements and partnerships to balance the supply and demand of the market. Introducing new effective products is another strategy to stay ahead of the competition.