Currently, the peak sales season for wheat seed coatings is underway, yet the market is permeated with a hint of chill. Both seed coating manufacturers and wheat seed suppliers are feeling unprecedented pressure. Since last year, wheat and corn cultivation in some regions have been severely hit by extreme weather, resulting in a sharp drop in yield, and many farmers have suffered significant losses. Coupled with persistently low grain prices, farmers' willingness to purchase commercial wheat seeds has significantly decreased, opting instead to use retained seeds. Against this backdrop, the wheat seed coating market has not been spared, and price competition has intensified. For distributors, seed coatings, once a crucial source of profit in the second half of the year, have now become unpalatable to sell but regrettable to abandon.

Compared to pesticide companies with diversified product lines, wheat seed companies may face even greater challenges. Although industry experts call for: "Seed companies should increase R&D investment, cultivate and promote new varieties adaptable to extreme climatic conditions, especially specialized wheat and colored wheat, which are expected to become future growth points." However, under the current industry-wide pressure, increasing R&D investment is not easy for many seed companies, not to mention that the cultivation of new varieties is a long and uncertain process.

Facing such internal and external difficulties, how can the seed industry break through? Perhaps, uniform seed coating treatment before seeds leave the factory is one of the effective ways to break the deadlock and achieve value enhancement.

Intervening in Seed Coating: A Timely Strategic Choice

The fierce price competition in the current seed coating market creates an excellent opportunity for the seed industry to intervene in seed coating:

First, in the past, distributors and retail stores gained considerable profits by selling wheat seed coatings, but now the profit margin has significantly shrunk. Coupled with the labor input of seed treatment, selling seed coatings has become a thankless task. In contrast, if seeds have been coated before leaving the factory, distributors and retail stores only need to add a reasonable markup, which is undoubtedly more acceptable to the channels.

Second, the seed industry, through large-scale centralized procurement of seed coatings, can significantly reduce costs. Part of the saved costs can be used to feed back profits to distributors and retail stores. Combined with the promotion of precision sowing technology, farmers can still enjoy high-quality coated seeds without increasing the cost per mu, while also taking into account the reasonable profit demands of all parties. For distributors and retail stores, it also avoids the labor intensity and potential risks of self-treatment. For farmers, it means obtaining a more optimized product combination (seed + seed coating) without increasing costs.

Significant Benefits of Seed Industry Promoting Seed Coating

For the seed industry itself, promoting seed coating can also bring multiple benefits:

First, in recent years, low-temperature freezing damage, drought, dry hot wind, and pests and diseases are the main factors affecting wheat yield. Although selecting highly resistant varieties is a long-term strategy, breeding cycles are long and uncertainties are high. Improving crop "plant health" through seed coating technology, enhancing stress resistance, and effectively controlling early pests and diseases, is more economical and efficient compared to the long breeding process.

Second, seed coating is a precise application method. Seed companies know best about the characteristics and potential defects of their own varieties, so they can tailor coating solutions based on variety characteristics, which represents a higher stage of seed coating technology application. Precisely applying coating agents for different varieties can maximize the yield potential of wheat varieties, and also facilitate the market promotion and brand building of varieties.

Of course, seed companies may face some uncertain risks during the coating process. However, these risks are generally controllable compared to the sales growth opportunities brought by coating. In the Huang-Huai-Hai region, the main wheat producing area, the frequency of extreme weather during winter wheat sowing is relatively low; in addition, wheat seeds themselves have strong tolerance to agents, so the coating risk is not high. Furthermore, wheat seed coating technology has been quite mature after years of development. If cooperating with domestic first-class regular pesticide companies, the risks are almost negligible. In the promotion of coated seeds, the joint promotion of seed companies and pesticide companies often produces twice the result with half the effort.