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

The Asia-Pacific Forage Seed Market size is estimated at 718.5 million USD in 2025, and is expected to reach 821.5 million USD by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 2.72% during the forecast period (2025-2030).

Hybrids dominated the region's forage seed market due to higher yield and palatability to animals

• In Asia-Pacific, hybrid seeds dominate the forage seed market in terms of volume and value compared to open-pollinated varieties and hybrid derivatives. In 2022, hybrid forage seeds held an 80.6% share of the region's forage seed market, which showed a significant growth of 22.3% between 2017 and 2022. It is due to the high yield, early maturity, and higher palatability to livestock.
• In 2022, non-transgenic hybrid seeds dominated the market among the hybrid seed segment, with more than 99% in the region. This is mainly due to the large use of non-transgenic seeds compared to GMO seeds because of the perceived effects of transgenic traits on livestock and animal health and the ban on transgenic crops in major countries, including India.
• In 2022, among the non-transgenic hybrid seeds, alfalfa was the major crop, holding a 19.9% value share in the market, followed by forage corn with 10.1%. This is due to the larger area under alfalfa cultivation and the ban on transgenic alfalfa in some countries such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
• Open-pollinated varieties and hybrid derivatives accounted for a 19.4% share of the region's forage seed market in 2022. Alfalfa leads the segment, which accounted for a 45.6% share of OPV in the region. Due to the high-volume seed requirements and lack of hybrid innovations, OPVs are more prevalent in forage crops such as alfalfa, forage sorghum, and other forages in the Asia-Pacific region.
• India is the fastest-growing country, with 36.1% of the region's OPV share. The lower share compared to hybrids is mainly due to low productivity.
• Therefore, non-transgenic forage seeds under hybrid seeds dominate the market. With the aforementioned facts, the market is anticipated to grow during the forecast period.

Japan dominated the forage seed market in the region, with a higher area under cultivation due to increased livestock population in the country

• In 2022, Asia-Pacific accounted for 15.1% of the global forage seed market. The market value increased by 19.4% between 2017 and 2022 due to the increased demand for forage from feed processing industries.
• Japan is the largest consumer of forage seeds and held a market share of 48.8% of the region's forage seed market in 2022, mainly due to increased cultivation and rising demand from the feed industry.
• In India, alfalfa is the major crop consumed, accounting for 25% of the Asia-Pacific forage seed market in 2022. The higher demand was due to the high production area and increased cattle population. For instance, the cattle population increased from 300 million heads in 2017 to more than 305 million heads in 2021, mainly due to the increased demand for dairy and meat products. Therefore, increased demand is estimated to increase the area under cultivation, thus driving the seed market.
• In 2022, apart from Japan, other countries such as India, Australia, and China together held the maximum market share value of 44.6%, mainly due to the higher cattle population in these countries and higher demand for feed.
• In Japan, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) set a goal of increasing forage self-sufficiency from 77% to 100% by 2030. To support forage production in the country, MAFF provides support payments to growers who plant forage and feed crops. Therefore, the demand for seeds is projected to rise in the country in the coming years.
• Factors such as government support to increase production, the rising adoption of commercial seeds, and the growing demand for forage seeds are estimated to boost the market in the region during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific Forage Seed Market Trends

An increase in demand for high-quality fodder from dairy farms and easier maintenance of forage crops is driving the area under cultivation

• The major forage crops grown in the Asia-Pacific region include alfalfa, forage sorghum, forage corn, and other grasses. Forage crops accounted for about 1.7% of the region's total row crop cultivation area in 2022. The total forage area decreased from 2016 to 2019 due to the crop shift to other profitable crops, including soybeans and corn. However, the increasing demand for forage from livestock and the development of the dairy industry caused the increase in area from 2020 to 2022. Therefore, the area increased by about 3.2% between 2020 and 2022.
• Alfalfa is one of the major forage crops cultivated in the region, with an area of 6.5 million hectares in 2022. The area under alfalfa increased by 0.4% between 2017 and 2022. Increase in acreages due to its exceptional capacity to produce abundant amounts of protein and attractive forage under various weather and soil conditions. Additionally, In 2022, the area under forage sorghum cultivation was 2.9 million hectares. India accounted for 93.4% of forage sorghum cultivation in the region, with 2.7 million ha in 2022. High livestock population and rising demand for animal forage are the main factors leading to increased cultivation. For instance, the number of cattle in India increased from 190.4 million stocks in 2017 to 193.4 million in 2021.
• In Asia-Pacific, India has the largest area under forage crops, accounting for 52.9% of the forage crop acreage because of the country's high demand from the livestock industry. Therefore, these factors force farmers to expand the area under forage crops to meet the demand, thereby increasing the sales of forage seeds.

Increasing demand for fodder in livestock farming is driving the usage of hybrid forage seeds having disease resistant, wider adaptability, and early maturity traits

• Alfalfa and forage corn are the major forage crops because of their benefits to livestock rearing, such as more digestibility and high protein. They also allow farmers to attain greater yields without sacrificing quality. Wider adaptability for alfalfa was the largest adopted trait as there have been weather changes, high demand for early maturity, and low lignin content in a single product to minimize the usage of different inputs.
• The most common and harmful fungal diseases of alfalfa are fusarium and brown spot. They can reduce the productivity of plants by 30% or more. Therefore, the demand for alfalfa varieties with disease-resistant traits increases for alfalfa growers to achieve higher productivity. Additionally, alfalfa with low lignin traits is cultivated in Japan as the low-lignin trait alfalfa is highly digestible, and it offers a 15-20% increase in yield. Therefore, the demand for alfalfa with low lignin traits is expected to increase in the region during the forecast period.
• Forage corn with high yield potential, drought tolerance, disease tolerance, early maturity, and lodging tolerance traits are in high demand. Among these traits, the early maturity trait had the largest share as it has a high demand in the livestock industry. To meet this demand, the growers cultivate the crop in the off-season and reduce the cultivating period to normal cultivation by 1-2 weeks than normal cultivation. For instance, Land O' Lakes provides about 44 products with drought tolerance and early maturity traits.
• To prevent the increasing losses from diseases and increase productivity in a shorter period, the seeds with traits such as disease resistance, early maturity, and drought tolerance are fueling the market's growth.

Asia-Pacific Forage Seed Industry Overview

The Asia-Pacific Forage Seed Market is moderately consolidated, with the top five companies occupying 58.53%. The major players in this market are Advanta Seeds - UPL, Bayer AG, Land O'Lakes Inc., PGG Wrightson Seeds (DLF) and Royal Barenbrug Group (sorted alphabetically).

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