Myanmar Seed - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

Hybrids occupy the major share of the market with increasing demand from farmers for higher yield

• In Myanmar, hybrid seeds dominate the seed market, which accounted for USD 151.5 million in 2022. In 2022, row crops accounted for 75.1%, whereas vegetables accounted for 24.9% of the hybrid seed market in the country.
• Hybrids have higher productivity, wider adaptability, and a high degree of resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. For instance, in cotton, hybrids give 50% more yield than conventional varieties. The wider adaptability of hybrids is mainly due to their high buffering capacity to environmental fluctuations. ​
• The non-availability of transgenic varieties in all the crops, 100% seed replacement rate for every season, the threat to food security due to increasing population, and resistance to biotic and non-biotic stresses are the factors expected to drive the market for non-transgenic hybrids with a CAGR of 4.7% during the forecast period.
• In Myanmar, the open-pollinated varieties seed market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.6% during the forecast period because of the low cost, high adoption to local conditions, low input requirement, and timely non-availability of hybrids in all the crops.​​
• The only trait approved for commercial cultivation in Myanmar is insect resistance (IR) in cotton only, and 100% of the area under transgenic cotton is insect resistant due to its high yield and resistance to major cotton pests. Therefore, the demand for insect-resistant cotton hybrids is projected to grow with a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period in the country.
• Therefore, the high-yielding characteristics of hybrids, along with their wider adaptability and the demand for insect-resistant varieties, are estimated to drive commercial seed usage in the country during the forecast period.

Myanmar Seed Market Trends

The high export potential of row crops and increased consumption are driving the are under row crop cultivation

• Myanmar's agriculture is well diversified, with rice being the major crop (mainly during the monsoon season) and other crops such as maize, pulses, and oilseeds. Rice and corn are the major crops cultivated in the country. As of 2022, they are cultivated under a combined area of 7.1 million hectares. The total area under rice cultivation increased by 6.9% from 6.1 million hectares in 2017 to 6.5 million hectares in 2022 due to a lack of irrigated water and the abandonment of farmland in conflict-affected areas. Rice is grown in several parts of the country. The major portion of rice cultivation is located in the Delta of the Ayeyarwady River, accounting for 34% of the total harvested area (6.5 million hectares in 2022), followed by the Bango and Yangon divisions.
• In Myanmar, the area harvested under the maize crop accounted for 607.8 thousand hectares in 2022, which was an increase of 19.3% since 2017. This is mainly due to increased export demand and high usage of feed grain in the poultry sector.​
• The other oil seeds, such as groundnut, sesame, and castor, occupied major areas under row crops in Myanmar. The area under other oilseeds accounted for 2.5 million hectares in 2017, which increased to 2.6 million hectares in 2022. Due to their higher yield and high returns in oil seed crops, farmers shifted to the cultivation of oil seeds in recent years, which is the major driver for the increasing cultivation area in the country. Therefore, the demand for seeds is estimated to increase during the forecast period.
• Thus, the high export potential and high consumption demand are anticipated to drive the row crop cultivation area in the country during the forecast period.

Increasing adoption of pumpkin and cucumber seeds with disease resistance and quality attributes is driving the market

• Pumpkin, squash, and cucumber are the major cucurbits widely grown in the country. The popular traits of the pumpkin and squash are quality attributes such as good shape, size, and color, longer storage life, disease resistance, especially against the geminin virus, and wider adaptability to different climatic and soil types. It is expected that disease resistance and quality attribute traits will be more widely available in the future as companies develop new varieties with mildew tolerance and virus resistance, as well as uniformity, color, and flavor. Moreover, East-West Seed has varieties such as 18880 F1 and Pujitha F1, which provide resistance to geminin and potyvirus in the crop.
• Varieties of cucumber that provide desirable qualities, such as uniform size, different colors, and shapes, have the highest demand. The other major traits of the varieties include disease resistance, heat tolerance, cold resistance, wider adaptability to all seasons, early maturity, and suitability for greenhouses and playhouses. BARAN F1, HYPER C F1, and KAYIN F1 are some of the seeds offered by East-West Seed, and Prince is offered by Noongwoo Bio, which provides quality attributes and helps earn higher profits. Furthermore, other major companies breeding and marketing pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers with different traits are Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), Rijk Zwaan, and Know Your Seed in the country.​​
• Factors such as the introduction of new seeds with higher resistance to viruses and varieties with traits such as quality attributes and wider adaptability are expected to help in the growth of the vegetable seed market during the forecast period.

Myanmar Seed Industry Overview

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