b'To Stay Resilient, Seed Needs to DifferentiateAt the World Agri-Tech Summit, Cortevas CEO discusses where the future of seed innovation lies.Alex MartinWHY DO WEas a sector need to continuously innovate? ItsWith gene editing, we can identify genes that will protect the not a question you might often think about, but agriculturecrop, amplify them and move them to an optimal location so we and the seed sector have unique challenges that most industriescan accelerate hybridization, he says.dont have to think about, let alone deal with every day. Think about climate change, food security and the energyFocus on Collaboration and Innovationtransition. For Chuck Magro, it seems obvious that the seedThough new tools are fantastic, theres one other solution sector and ag tech sector need to continue to build up resiliencyimperative to help create a more resilient industry: partnerships.to tackle these challenges.Collaboration and partnerships are no longer nice to have, Im very proud to be part of the agriculture industry. Today,Magro says. Theyre absolutely mission critical. We believe that we feed more people on less land with less natural resourceswe need to spend more time working with the entire value chain, and less emissions than we ever had before, Magro, Cortevaincluding the startup community, to build an ecosystem of like-Agrisciences CEO, says during a session at the World Agri-Techminded organizations who believe in working together.Summit in San Francisco, Cali. More people around the worldEspecially with the banking issues surrounding Silicon Valley will sit down to a full plate of dinner, and thats because of all ofBank, Magro believes that collaboration and investment in you in the room and because of what our farmers do aroundagriculture are going to be imperative going forward to maintain the world every day. But, we have challenges and Im certainlyresiliency in the sector. grounded in those realities. Access to capital is a concern today. Access to capital, Its never been a more complicated time to farm, he says,especially for this group, is the lifeline of innovation, he says. adding that there are new threats to growing, including newThe macroeconomic volatility that were currently experiencing, weeds, insects and diseases.along with the banking situation we just saw, has the potential to stifle innovation in agriculture, and we cannot allow that to Finding New Solutions to Challenges happen. I see a great deal of opportunity for us to work together To retain resilience, Magro says agriculture and the seed sectoron a whole host of issues and opportunities.SWneed to continue to change and grow. One change hes noticed is a change in the global goal of agriculture. Instead of solely focus-ing on feeding the world, a new goal for companies is feeding and fueling the world in a sustainable way. That means, biofuels and biologicals alike are going to become more important technologies for agriculture. Our solutions are less intensive than fossil fuels, Magro says. But, in addition, biologicals are helping to do this in a more sus-tainable way. Biologicals is the fastest growing segment of the crop protection industry. By the time we get to 2035, biologicals will represent 25% of the global market.While Magro doesnt believe biologicals will replace traditional chemistry, he believes that to fight the new pests, diseases and weeds, growers need every tool possible to help the battle. With new biologicals and a new focus on biofuels, wheres the next step in productivity to propel the industry forward?We believe its gene editing, Magro says. It has the poten-tial to make very precise changes where we can turn on and off genesits a faster and more cost-effective way to do breed-ing with no foreign DNA.For Magro and Corteva, gene editing really has endless applications. It can help reduce corn stature, which is a bigger discussion topic among growers, and it can help reduce disease pressure on crop varieties. 22/ SEEDWORLD.COMJUNE 2023'