Market Trends of south america vegetable seed Industry
Chili is experiencing the fastest growth in cultivation area among vegetables in the region, driven by rising prices and consumption of chili
- South America is one of the largest producers of vegetables in the world. The area cultivated under vegetables reached 5.3 million hectares in 2022, which decreased by 1.7% between 2017 and 2022. This was due to the growing adoption of protected cultivation that offered higher yields in smaller areas. This led to a reduction in the region's overall cultivation area needed for vegetables. In South America, Brazil is the major vegetable producer. It accounted for 25.3% of the South American vegetable cultivated area, with 2.4 million hectares in 2022. The vegetable-cultivable land in the country decreased by 3.1% between 2017 and 2022 due to a shift toward protected cultivation.
- By cultivation area, roots and bulbs were the largest segments in South America. They accounted for 32.4% of the region's total vegetable area in 2022, as potatoes and other roots and bulbs are the staple food in the region. However, the total area under roots and bulbs decreased from 3.16 million ha in 2017 to 3.11 million ha in 2022 due to a shift toward other profitable crops such as cotton and soybean. Potato is one of the major vegetables cultivated in South America. The total area under potato production in South America was around 937.1 thousand ha in 2022, which decreased by 1.8% since 2017 due to increased temperatures and pest incidences in the traditional growing areas in Peru. Furthermore, other major vegetable crops cultivated in the country are onion, cabbage, peas, and chili. Between 2017 and 2022, the region's chili cultivation area increased by 14.6% due to rising prices and chili consumption.
- Therefore, the growing adoption of precision farming techniques and protected cultivation is estimated to limit South America's expansion of vegetable cultivation areas.
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Disease resistant is the primary trait preferred in onion and lettuce cultivation to combat diseases such as pink root, bolting, and others.
- Lettuce is a high-value exotic vegetable that is widely consumed across the region. With the growing demand for high-quality foods, especially for exports, farmers have been cultivating lettuce using high-quality seeds that possess multiple desirable traits. Disease resistance is the most popular trait preferred in the region, including resistance to tip burn, pythium, and bolting diseases.
- Major companies like Limagrain, Rijk Zwaan, and Enza Zaden offer cultivars with these multiple traits. Other significant traits include wider adaptability, quality attributes such as a high number of leaves, soft leaves, good coloration, extended shelf life, uniformity in producing consistent heads, and early maturation varieties. Farmers are interested in cultivating such varieties to meet market demands and maximize profits.
- Similarly, onions are the leading root and bulb vegetables consumers use for seasoning and in various cuisines. Farmers in the region are cultivating onion seeds with traits that offer high yields, resistance to diseases like pink root and phytophthora, extended storage capacity, uniform bulb size, and desirable attributes such as bulb color and size. To meet market demand and increase profits, companies such as Bayer, Basf, Enza Zaden, Sakata, and Rijk Zwaan offer seed traits that help growers achieve high returns. Popular brands like BASF (Nunhems), Bayer (Seminis), and Limagrain (Vilmorin) have extensive catalogs of onion seeds that are commercially sold in the region.
- Therefore, the demand for high-quality vegetables with disease-resistant traits, quality attributes, and extended shelf life is anticipated to drive the market during the forecast period.
Understand The Key Trends Shaping This Market
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Understand The Key Trends Shaping This Market
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OTHER KEY INDUSTRY TRENDS COVERED IN THE REPORT
- Disease resistance is a highly preferred trait in tomato, pumpkin, and squash cultivation due to its ability to combat prevalent diseases such as leaf curl virus in tomatoes and floral diseases in pumpkins and squash
- Hybrid breeding is the major breeding technique that provides a powerful tool for plant breeders to maximize the yield potential of vegetable crops
