b'Gro Alliance partners with Chiles CIS Agro in its Chilean jointRick Rutherford, a Canadian seed grower who goes to Chile venture, CIS Alliance, to carry out contra season seed nurseryto consult for two Chilean seed companies, says Chiles ability to projects in a range of species. adapt to change is helping it weather the challenges posed by Theres a lot of places around the world where you canclimate change.potentially do contra season production, but to me, Chile hasChile is a lot like Southern Alberta with a dry climate, and you several big advantages. One is they have the right people withirrigate as required. Because the plateau the country farms on the right attitude, Schweigert says.is right next to the Andes, thats where the snowpack is, and its That attitude comes from years of experience workingused for irrigation, says Rutherford.with people from North America for export market purposes,Right now, theyre enjoying the best snowpack theyve had in Schweigert adds. The CIS Alliance nursery carries out customeryears. For this next production season, things are looking really seed breeding projects in corn and soybeans, along with 13 otherpositive in terms of available water.crop species. Schweigerts clients are based in Japan, Europe,While water availability can be a concern, Chilean seed com-the United States, Canada and beyond. panies are innovating with irrigation techniques that help them Its completely natural for them to understand the culturalmaximize available water sources.nuances of whoever theyre working with. You might not findThe central region of Chile is indeed experiencing less rain that anywhere else.than we are accustomed to. We have been working to find fields with better water access, says Nicolas Sahli, managing partner COVID, Climate Change and Politics at CIS Agro based near Santiago. Like any other crop-producing country, Chile has its chal- We have all our seed under pivot irrigation and also drip lenges. The COVID-19 pandemic made contra seasonirrigation. That helps us to be very flexible and we can produce production a challenge due to health restrictionsalmost any kind of seed as a result.which impeded movement throughout the country. CIS Agro produces basic and commercial off-season seeds One of biggest global effects of the pandemicfor crops such as corn, soybeans, beets, sunflower, canola, sweet was delay in shipping goods. ANPROS, Chilescorn, among others for clients around the world. seed association, began to stress when the pan-Despite the challenges around COVID and climate change, demic began that everything to do with contraChile enjoys a supportive business environment from a politi-season production in Chile had to be done incal perspective. The countrys national government is currently advance, including sending seed into the coun- re-writing the Chilean constitution, and earlier this year, concerns try to be multiplied.arose among seed industry stakeholders that legislation might ANPROS worked with authorities to imple- be introduced to ban the production of GM seed in the country.ment different actions for speeding up everyChile currently does not allow GMO crops to be grown by process regarding seed movement, according tofarmers for the national market, but allows GM seed production Mario Schindler, executive director of ANPROS.for export. ANPROS and ANPROS-SAG (Chiles inspec- In a recent news release, the ANPROS board of directors said tion service) have collaborated with Chileanits pleased that the final text for the proposed new constitu-authorities to digitize more paperwork related totion does not include anything that would directly affect seed seed certification and phytosanitary certification,production in Chile.which made the process easier. Chile already has theThe news comes after months of effort by ANPROS to com-e-Phyto (electronic phytosanitary certificate) system inmunicate the value of agricultural seed coexisting with ancestral place with the EU, United States, Argentina and other seed, the news release notes. countries.The fact that Chile is so adept at catering to export market Also of concern is climate change. Ioana Stroe, Chile labneeds is one major thing that has helped it develop into the kind operations manager for 20/20 Seed Labs, says Chiles climate isof place that is today. Its a testament to the value that GMO changing, and that means 20/20s holdings in Chile may one dayresearch and exports bring to Chile and its people, Schweigert change. Cooler summers mean Chile is not immune to the cli- adds.mate change challenges faced in the rest of the world, she notes. Chiles infrastructure has grown so much in a short time; its Depending on what happens, seed companies both insignificantly better than it was when I first visited when I was in Canada and abroad may one day be looking to other nearbyhigh school, and it continues to develop and advance. Chile is a countrieslike Argentina, Paraguay and Perufor contra-sea- great example to the rest of world when it comes to innovation son production, Stroe says.and progress. Their climate is very similar to Chiles and benefits from twowith files from Treena HeinSWgrowing seasons; it could be an ideal place to do such produc-tion if it could no longer be done in Chile, says Stroe.INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2023SEEDWORLD.COM /59'