Global Agrigenomics Market Size and Trends

The agrigenomics market size is expected to reach US$ 7.67 Bn by 2031, from US$ 4.30 Bn in 2024, at a CAGR of 8.6% during the forecast period.

Agrigenomics Market- Drivers

Population Growth and Food Security Needs: The global population is constantly growing and is expected to reach around 9.7 Bn people by 2050 according to UN population projections. With more mouths to feed, the pressure on the global food supply will continue to rise in the coming decades. There is an urgent need to boost agricultural productivity and production to meet this growing demand for food. Advanced technologies in agrigenomics can help address the looming food security challenge by enabling the development of new crop varieties that are high-yielding, more resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses, and better adapted to different climatic conditions. Gene editing and other agrigenomics techniques allow targeted enhancement of traits related to yield potential, drought tolerance, pest and disease resistance in major staple crops. This can significantly increase total farm outputs to fulfill the nutrition requirements of the swelling worldwide population. Ensuring food security for future generations is a top priority around the world and agrigenomics offers promising solutions in sustainably intensifying agricultural systems and narrowing the gap between food demand and supply.
Sustainability and Climate Change Adaptation: Another major driver is the rising need to develop more sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural practices. Traditional agricultural methods have placed tremendous strain on natural resources like land, water and biodiversity over the years. Additionally, the impacts of climate change such as changing rainfall patterns, rising temperatures and frequent extreme weather events are posing serious risks to global food production. There is a pressing demand for climate-smart farming approaches that enhance resource efficiency while bolstering crop tolerance against various abiotic stresses. Agrigenomics can play a pivotal role in the transition towards more sustainable food systems through techniques like genome editing, marker-assisted breeding and genomics-led variety selection. These technologies enable creation of varieties that require less water and fertilizer for comparable yields. They also aid in breeding stress-tolerant strains suited for diverse climatic conditions. This helps agriculture sector build resilience against climate vagaries while reducing environmental Footprint of farming activities. These benefits are fueling significant investments in agrigenomics research aimed at developing next-gen climate-ready crop varieties.

Agrigenomics Market- Trends

Virtual reality/drone tech integration: The integration of virtual reality and drone technologies is having a transformative impact on the agrigenomics market. The use of virtual reality tools allows agricultural researchers and seed companies to visualize crops and farms in 3D simulated environments. This helps them more efficiently conduct experimentation related to crop genetics, characteristics and performance under different conditions without having to physically visit fields.virtual reality simulations can easily manipulate various agricultural variables like weather, soil types, pests and diseases to test thousands of possibilities in a short time from the comfort of an office.

This leads to faster research and development cycles. For example, researchers at the University of Illinois used VR simulations in 2021 to test different drought-resistant traits on virtual corn fields, helping them identify the most promising strains for real-world trials months in advance. VR also helps seed and chemical companies design specialized, location-specific seed and input packages tailored to each farm's unique terroir. They can visualize how crops may respond in any given microclimate. This translational research enhances productivity and sustainability outcomes for growers.

The integration of drones further aids agrigenomics applications. Multispectral and thermal cameras attached to drones capture precision field data at different crop growth stages. Companies can then correlate this imagery data with a farm's varied soil composition, topography and micro-weather patterns mapped into their VR simulations. This helps gain deeper insights into how genetic traits interact with their physical environment. For instance, 2022, Yara, a fertilizer major, deployed drone data in 2022 across midwestern U.S. farms to study nitrogen efficiency in experimental wheat varieties in their virtual test fields. Such real-world calibration and validation improves the predictive capabilities of VR, expediting the development of climate-resilient seeds and farming practices.

Expanding application scope of digital agriculture: The digital agriculture trend is significantly influencing the agrigenomics market as it allows for more advanced and precise agricultural applications. With increased use of sensors, robotics, artificial intelligence and other digital tools in farms, there is far greater scope for applying agrigenomics techniques.

Precision agriculture enabled by digital tools allows for targeted and zoned application of inputs like water, fertilizers and pesticides based on real-time field conditions. Genomic information of crops can be combined with soil and weather data to determine exactly what genetic traits and management practices would be most suitable for maximum yields. This helps farmers optimize the use of resources. For example, in India, sensors are being used to collect over 50 demographic and agricultural parameters along 1,000 km of canal length, benefiting over 6 million farmers. Similarly, by correlating genetic data of livestock with performance records, digital solutions can aid in more accurate selection of high yielding breeds tailored to local conditions. Gene editing techniques also now have broader scope due to digitally powered identification of precise genome targets for desirable economic traits. For instance, the African Cassava Whitefly-Resistant project by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture used genomics to develop cassava varieties resistant to the whitefly pest, benefiting over 0.20 Bn people in Africa.

Such expanded applications of agrigenomics through digital integration provide valuable insights for driving research and product development. They also boost demand for genotyping, sequencing and gene editing services. According to the Indian government's inter-ministerial committee report, digital technology interventions increased farmer income in India by 16-18% during 2014-15 to 2019-20.This underscores farmers' growing reliance on precision-agriculture solutions and validates the opportunities for personalized agrigenomics services.