## 4 Perspectives  
Sustainable agriculture practices ensure the fulfillment of the food requirements of the present generation while maintaining environmental well-being. Progress in plant biotechnologies has opened new paradigms and significantly contributed to enhancing crop productivity, revolutionizing agriculture in modern times. Plant seeds are integral and crucial in agriculture, and are an indispensable source of food and feed to humans and animals, providing a significant nutrition source. With substantial advances and progress achieved in seed biotechnologies, the role of seed as a starting material and its quality improvement via multiple scientific approaches becomes eminent. It is worthwhile to mention the advances in seed quality improvement via biotechnological innovations, including phenotyping assays and advanced imaging technologies like GrainScan and 3D and 2D imaging platforms, nano-enabled seed treatment practices, synthetic biology approaches (including CRISPR-Cas9 and TALENs), synthetic seed production, etc., have provided critical insights into seed science research, delineating key mechanisms and traits in seed physiology and development. Talking about the commercial aspects of the seed market, the rapid technological advances have significantly impacted global trends in seed science research and innovations. Worldwide, the seed treatment market is projected to expand from USD 6.1 billion in 2022 to USD 9.2 billion by 2027, highlighting major growth. The market is largely focused on the products and services for seed treatment prior to plantation. With an objective to improve the overall health and high-value traits in the seed crops, the emerging trends in the seed treatment market showcase the following interesting trends:  
* _Achieving global food security_: The increased demand for food worldwide may be addressed by improved seed germination and crop productivity. * _Technological advances and achievements_: Advances in seed biotechnology research contributed to new seed formulations and application procedures leading to effective and targeted results. * _Precision farming initiatives_: Precision agriculture has resulted in targeted seed treatment based on specific conditions. * _Support from government_: National and international organizations have implemented guidelines/policies to promote seed biotechnological innovations for enhanced agricultural output [206]. The seed treatment market highlights a shift towards biological practices, keeping in mind the demands of the consumers (increased use of organic and sustainable products), bio-based seed treatment procedures (botanical and microbial usage), and promoting sustainable practices (to minimize environmental impact with eco-friendly measures). The substantial efforts by government and local organizations contributed to increased awareness among the farmers, contributing to recognition and demand for seed treatment procedures. The seed treatment market (chemical fungicide market) highlighted a major growth of 18.3% during 2017-2022 due to major crop losses from fungal diseases worldwide. The fungicide seed treatments comprise thiram, metalaxyl, carbendazim, etc., developed to reduce crop losses. In addition, insecticidal seed treatments are pivotal in restricting multiple pests namely wireworms, beetles, aphids, etc., at the preliminary stages; are cost-effective; and limit the reliance on foliar sprays during later stages of the crop life cycle. A major concern is increasing nematode infections resulting in severe losses, dealt effectively with the better knowledge of farmers about multiple seed treatment procedures [207]. In the smallholder farmers, there has been increased understanding to monitor early crop diseases and protect the seed and seedlings at an early stage in the preharvest stages. This calls for the use of seed treatment procedures/products, conferring enhanced biotic/abiotic stress tolerances to the respective crops.