The domestic vegetable seeds industry is likely to double its size to around Rs 8,000 crore in the next five years driven by growth in adoption of hybrid seeds, says a report.
The current market size of the vegetable seeds industry is around Rs 4,000 crore.
Rating agency Icra in its report said increasing awareness to consume more vegetables to meet diverse dietary and nutritional needs has raised the demand for vegetables.
Sachin Sachdeva, associate head and AVP corporate ratings, Icra, estimated India would need around 35 per cent increase in production of vegetables over the next five years.
However, he said, given the constraints on increasing the area under cultivation, the growth would come through productivity augmentation, of which a major part has to be driven by greater adoption of hybrid seeds in cultivation of vegetable crops.
"We estimate that with the growth in volumes as well as value (on the back of hybridisation), the size of the vegetable seeds industry would double from the current levels to around Rs 8,000 crore in the next five years, with a annual growth of around 10 per cent," he added.
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According to Icra, the key to improve adoption of hybrid seeds lies in ensuring the availability of quality seeds, bridging the awareness gap in farmers regarding better techniques and developing supportive infrastructure.
The rating agency suggested that new location-specific high-yielding hybrid varieties should be developed given the diverse agro-climatic conditions in the country.
"Investment in hybrid seeds research and development is a key element and should be stepped up," he added.
Over the last two and half decades, vegetable crops produce in India has nearly trebled, increasing to estimated 181 million tonne in financial year 2017-18 from 59 million tonne in financial year 1991-92, according to Icra.
"This growth is contributed by rise in the area under cultivation and improvement in yields," it said.