PLANT PHENOTYPING MARKET ANALYSIS

Plant phenotyping refers to a set of methods and tools used to measure plant characteristics or phenotypes such as height, color, etc. Phenotypes are affected by environmental factors and interactions between genes. The knowledge of phenotypic characteristics of a plant enables high yield production and improved crop quality. Traditionally, plant phenotyping was carried out manually, however, modern plant phenotyping comprises of advanced technology and automated platform systems. Modern sensor technologies are used in plant phenotyping to monitor the effect of environment on plants as well as the plant’s response towards environmental factors. Methods such as image analysis systems, canopy analysis systems, and fluorometers make plant phenotyping a robust, non-invasive, and high throughput screening process.

Global Plant Phenotyping Market - Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was first reported on December 31, 2019, in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic outbreak on March 11, 2020.

According to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Weekly Epidemiological Update by the World Health Organization, over 177 million cases and 3.8 million deaths are reported across the globe due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as of June 20, 2021.

Impact of COVID-19 on Demand and Supply of Plant Phenotyping Products

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in various countries across the globe have impacted the financial status of businesses across all sectors. The agri-biotechnology sector is one such sector that has been majorly impacted by the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire production, marketing, and supply chain of the agri-biotechnology industry mainly due to restrictions in movement during nationwide lockdown. According to an article published by Sage Journals on January 19, 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a reduced production capacity of agricultural products due to shortage of labor. Also, supply and logistics of agricultural goods were negatively impacted due to restrictions in the movement across different regions. Hampered supply chains resulted in wastage of several perishable and semi-perishable food items. For instance, huge amount of food grains were wasted at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) storage. In addition, movement of migrant labor to their hometowns led to the scarcity of labor, which then interrupted the farming and harvesting activities in India.

Thus, impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is expected to limit the growth of the global plant phenotyping market during the forecast period, owing to affected supply of agricultural products, labor scarcity due to lockdown, and interruption of farming activities.

The global plant phenotyping market is estimated to be valued at US$ 183.8 Mn in 2021, and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 11.2% over the forecast period (2021-2028).

Figure 1: Global Plant Phenotyping Market Share (%) Analysis, By Product Type, 2021

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The increasing global food demand is the major factor that is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period.

Due to rise in population the global demand for food would increase, which is also related to the need for advanced agricultural techniques such as plant phenotyping to produce high yielding crops with improved quality. This is expected to boost the growth of plant phenotyping market. For instance, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report 2017, the world population is predicted to reach an approximate value of 10 million by 2050 while around 800 million people in the world are starving.

Increasing cases of seed-borne diseases lead to food wastage, thus techniques such as plant phenotyping are required to detect diseases early and help in the selection of disease-free plant breeds. Disease causing pathogens may be carried through seed distribution and once environmental conditions are favorable for these pathogens they transmit disease to growing seedling. For instance, according to an article published by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Australia, in January 2021, smut is a common type of seed borne disease that affects crops such as barley and wheat. The smut spores from an infected seed are spread to healthy seeds during harvest and transportation. These spore remain dormant till environmental conditions are unfavorable and begin to germinate once environment becomes cool and moist, thus infecting the sapling.

Moreover, increasing number of research and development activities is expected to aid in the growth of the market over the forecast period. For instance, in August 2020, Onset, a data logger manufacturer, developed a new HOBOnet Soil Moisture Sensor that uses GroPoint technology to measure the temperature and humidity of soil at varying depths. This newly developed sensor is durable, cost-effective, and easy to install. Such phenotypic analysis enables users to check when there is a need for supplying water, fertilizer, pesticide etc. to the agricultural crops.

Global Plant Phenotyping Market – Restraints

However, growth of the plant phenotyping market may be hampered due to lack of investments in agriculture sector and due to the lack of technological awareness in developing countries. For instance, according to a review article published by the Frontiers in Plant Science Journal on September 2019, in Turkey many farmers are uneducated and unaware of technological advances in agriculture, due to this the advanced agricultural techniques such as automated plant phenotyping are not easily adopted. In addition, there is a lack of national policy for agricultural organizations as well as lack of funding for collaborations between research scientists working in the lab and those working on the field. Budget restrictions are also reported in many southern European countries, this may act as a barrier in the adoption of newer agricultural technologies such as sensor-based plant phenotyping.

Global Plant Phenotyping Market – Regional Analysis

On the basis of region, the global plant phenotyping market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

North America is expected to hold dominant position in the global plant phenotyping market over the forecast period, owing to rising government funding in the agriculture sector. For instance, according to the Congressional Research Service Report 2020, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission funded various research organizations related to research in agriculture with approximately US$ 3.4 billion in the financial year 2020.

Key players in the Europe region are focused on market strategies such as mergers, collaborations and partnership agreements, this is expected to bolster the plant phenotyping market in Europe region over the forecast period. For instance, in January 2017, Keygene, an agri-biotechnology company entered into a collaboration agreement with Phenome Networks, a software solution provider for various agricultural practices such as plant phenotype analysis, to support the breeding of rubber-producing dandelion plants.

Figure 2: Global Plant Phenotyping Market Value (US$ Mn), by Region, 2021

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Global Plant Phenotyping Market – Competitive Landscape

Major players operating in the global plant phenotyping market include BASF SE, Phenospex, WIWAM, Lemnatec Corporation, Plant-DiTech, Hiphen, Delta-T Devices Ltd., Phenomix, Keygene, Qubit Systems, WPS B.V., Photon Systems Instruments, Vienna Biocenter, Heinz Walz Gmbh, CropDesign, and Rothamsted Research