b'Gro Alliance partners with Chiles CIS Agro in its Chilean jointto consult for two Chilean seed companies, says Chiles ability to venture, CIS Alliance, to carry out contra season seed nurseryadapt to change is helping it weather the challenges posed by projects in a range of species. climate change.Theres a lot of places around the world where you canChile is a lot like Southern Alberta with a dry climate, and you potentially do contra season production, but to me, Chile hasirrigate as required. Because the plateau the country farms on several big advantages. One is they have the right people withis right next to the Andes, thats where the snowpack is, and its the right attitude, Schweigert says.used for irrigation, says Rutherford.That attitude comes from years of experience workingRight now, theyre enjoying the best snowpack theyve had in with people from North America for export market purposes,years. For this next production season, things are looking really Schweigert adds. The CIS Alliance nursery carries out customerpositive in terms of available water.seed breeding projects in corn and soybeans, along with 13 otherWhile water availability can be a concern, Chilean seed com-crop species. Schweigerts clients are based in Japan, Europe,panies are innovating with irrigation techniques that help them the United States, Canada and beyond. maximize available water sources.Its completely natural for them to understand the culturalThe central region of Chile is indeed experiencing less rain nuances of whoever theyre working with. You might not findthan we are accustomed to. We have been working to find fields that anywhere else.with better water access, says Nicolas Sahli, managing partner at CIS Agro based near Santiago. COVID, Climate Change and Politics We have all our seed under pivot irrigation and also drip Like any other crop-producing country, Chile has its challenges.irrigation. That helps us to be very flexible and we can produce The COVID-19 pandemic made contra season production aalmost any kind of seed as a result.challenge due to health restrictions which impeded movementCIS Agro produces basic and commercial off-season seeds throughout the country. for crops such as corn, soybeans, beets, sunflower, canola, sweet One of biggest global effects of the pandemic was delay incorn, among others for clients around the world. shipping goods. ANPROS, Chiles seed association, began to Despite the challenges around COVID and climate change, stress when the pandemic began that everything to do withChile enjoys a supportive business environment from a politi-contra season production in Chile had to be done in advance,cal perspective. The countrys national government is currently including sending seed into the country to be multiplied.re-writing the Chilean constitution, and earlier this year, concerns ANPROS worked with authorities to implement differentarose among seed industry stakeholders that legislation might actions for speeding up every process regarding seed move- be introduced to ban the production of GM seed in the country.ment, according to Mario Schindler, executive director ofChile currently does not allow GMO crops to be grown by ANPROS.farmers for the national market, but allows GM seed production ANPROS and ANPROS-SAG (Chiles inspection service)for export. have collaborated with Chilean authorities to digitize moreIn a recent news release, the ANPROS board of directors said paperwork related to seed certification and phytosanitary cer- its pleased that the final text for the proposed new constitu-tification, which made the process easier. Chile already has thetion does not include anything that would directly affect seed e-Phyto (electronic phytosanitary certificate) system in placeproduction in Chile.with the EU, United States, Argentina and other countries.The news comes after months of effort by ANPROS to com-Also of concern is climate change. Ioana Stroe, Chile labmunicate the value of agricultural seed coexisting with ancestral operations manager for 20/20 Seed Labs, says Chiles climate isseed, the news release notes. changing, and that means 20/20s holdings in Chile may one dayThe fact that Chile is so adept at catering to export market change. Cooler summers mean Chile is not immune to the cli- needs is one major thing that has helped it develop into the kind mate change challenges faced in the rest of the world, she notes. of place that is today. Its a testament to the value that GMO Depending on what happens, seed companies both inresearch and exports bring to Chile and its people, Schweigert Canada and abroad may one day be looking to other nearbyadds.countrieslike Argentina, Paraguay and Perufor contra-sea- Chiles infrastructure has grown so much in a short time; its son production, Stroe says.significantly better than it was when I first visited when I was in Their climate is very similar to Chiles and benefits from twohigh school, and it continues to develop and advance. Chile is a growing seasons; it could be an ideal place to do such produc- great example to the rest of world when it comes to innovation tion if it could no longer be done in Chile, says Stroe. and progress. Rick Rutherford, a Canadian seed grower who goes to Chilewith files from Treena HeinSW80/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2022'