GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS MARKET ANALYSIS

Genetically Modified Crops Market Size and Trends

The global genetically modified crops market is estimated to be valued at USD 24.80 Bn in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 35.56 Bn by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3% from 2024 to 2031.

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Increasing demand for food owing to rapidly growing population has intensified the need for crops with higher yields. Genetically modified crops are engineered to resist pests and diseases, and exhibit tolerance to herbicides. This allows farmers to harvest higher yields and meet the rising food demand. Additionally, Genetically Modified Crops crops help reduce the use of pesticides, lowering the production cost for farmers. The development of drought-tolerant and pest-resistant genetically modified seed varieties also helps enhance crop resilience amid changing climatic conditions. While regulations in some regions remain a challenge, continued advancements in gene-editing technologies are expected to help expand the applications of GM crops in the coming years.

Market Driver - Increasing Population

With the global population expected to increase over 9 Bn by 2050, there is growing pressure on agriculture to produce more food on less land. Genetically modified crops help address this challenge by increasing yield and making crops more resistant to pests, diseases, and stressful environmental conditions.

As the population expands, the demand for food also rises significantly. For instance, according to food and agriculture organization It is estimated that food production will need to increase by over 70% to feed the additional 2.3 billion people on the planet compared to today. However, there is limited potential to expand agricultural lands further considering constraints around availability of cultivable land and water resources. GM technology allows farmers to modify crops so they can produce higher yields from the same plot of land through enhancements such as herbicide tolerance and resistance to insects. This helps boost overall agricultural productivity.

Another issue faced with the rising population is food wastage and losses during production, storage, and transportation. Genetically modified crops address this challenge through built-in resistance to pests and diseases which reduces crop losses and lowers food wastage rates. This ensures more of the produced food is available for consumption.

The growing middle class in populous emerging markets like India and China is also demanding higher quality diets with more meat consumption which puts additional pressure on crop yields. Feeding the increasing livestock population created by this dietary shift requires larger amounts of animal feed which can be sustainably met through GM crops that have greater resistance and higher biomass productivity.

With continuing rapid population growth projected, there is a clear and increasing need to boost agricultural productivity to fulfill the rising global demand for food while optimizing available resources. Genetically modified crops can play a significant role in enabling sustainable intensification of agriculture to feed more people from existing farmlands.

Demand for High Yield Crops

As global population growth and rising affluence drive up the worldwide food demand, farmers and producers increasingly require crop varieties with higher and more reliable yields. However, conventional breeding methods to develop improved hybrids can be lengthy and unpredictable. Genetic engineering tools allow for more precise introduction of novel traits which can help address farmers' needs for high-yielding crop options.

Some of the key traits delivered through genetic modification which increase harvest potential include herbicide tolerance, pest resistance through Bt technology, and abiotic stress tolerance. Herbicide tolerant crops enable more effective weed management practices and let farmers maximize yields by eliminating crop-weed competition for water, sunlight, and nutrients. Insect resistant Bt crops prevent damage from economically important pests like corn rootworm, and bollworm, minimizing losses from insect predation.

Tolerance to environmental stresses like drought, flooding, heat, and cold also boosts yields through GM crops. Climate change is making weather patterns more extreme and variable in many regions, threatening more frequent crop failures without stress-resilient varieties. Traits imparting resilience against adverse conditions allow farmers to maintain high production even in difficult growing seasons, stabilizing their incomes.

As market forces like rising fertilizer costs and efforts to produce more sustainably increase pressures on maximizing returns on farmland, farmers are seeking higher yielding options. Genetically modified seed technologies reliably deliver larger harvests per acre grown. This enables farmers, especially smallholders, to farm more efficiently and profitably on their limited land resources while meeting growing food needs.