b'At Seed World LATAM, we are witnessing and participating in this transformation. As part of the media industry, we have been transitioning from paper-based print magazines to online and digital. Like the seed industry, we are proud to play a key role inBreeders in the future will rarely go to the leading agriculture forward. Our job is to tell the seed industry\'s story. fields and instead will work from their screens In the lead-up to the Seed Congress of the Americas, wewith the help of artificial intelligence to develop sat down with one of the Congress\' key speakers, renowned Argentine agriculture thinker Carlos Becco, to explore howthe best combinations. the digital revolution is transforming the seed and agricultural Carlos Beccosector in Latin America. In his books, The Digital Revolution of Agriculture and From Villains to Heroes, Becco shares his vision for reshaping the narrative, where agriculture can move from being perceived as a villain to becoming the hero the world needs.Becco asserts that It is still surprising how plant breeding, the basis of the seed business, is still fundamentally a hand-made activity. It is going to become increasingly dominated by artifi-cial intelligence. Breeders in the future will rarely go to the fields and instead will work from their screens with the help of artificialthe iPhone, an event that marked the beginning of an unprec-intelligence to develop the best combinations. edented era of connectivity.Unlike the rapid adoption of technologies such as the iPhone Latin America, a Leader in the Agri-tech Revolution or Uber, Ag has traditionally moved more slowly due to connec-A global survey conducted by global management consult- tivity issues and its conservative nature. However, Becco stresses ant McKinsey and Company in 2015 revealed that agriculturethat innovation is thriving and growing by leaps and bounds in was the least digitalized sector in the global economy. This lagLatin America, even faster than in other more developed regions, compared to other sectors is because agriculture is an industrythanks to the spread of startups with new business models that with deep traditions, which at the time reflected an untappedchallenge the older ones and as digital leaders replace analog potential. This scenario is changing rapidly, especially in Latinleaders.America, a fertile ground for adopting disruptive technologies"A few years ago, the largest company in Argentina was YPF driven by a young, entrepreneurial population with more needs(Argentina\'s energy company). Today, the largest is Mercado and more hunger to innovate. Libre (the South American version of Amazon), which is worth Becco cites Zoomagri as an example of a seed industryten times more than YPF. So, why wouldn\'t we assume the innovator who is creating sustainability initiatives. Zoomagri issame thing will happen in agriculture? We should ask ourselves a company that has developed a seed scanning technologyif the next Blockbuster is among us or if there is an \'agribusiness that can identify the variety of a seed through imagery withoutNetflix\' that we have not yet discovered."having to destroy that seed. This is a case of technology created in Latin America that provides a solution to a particularly persis- A Regenerative Futuretent problem in our region: the intellectual property issue. Becco is optimistic that this technological revolution is the key to creating a future where agriculture is sustainable and regen-Revolution is Unplanned erative. That example, of course, is just one of many. Becco notes that"From the seed, which is the beginning of everything, our "the speed of Latin America\'s digitalization is astonishing. Weindustry has the ability to leave fields better than we received are seeing how new ideas are beginning to revolutionize a sectorthem."that has always been the most traditional." Becco concludes with this powerful reflection: "We have the "People talk about digital transformation," Becco says," but Iopportunity to be the heroes of this movie. Our practices can prefer to emphasize that it is a revolution."help fix atmospheric carbon, reduce our water footprint and For him, revolutions are organic, unplanned processes aris- ultimately regenerate the environment. We have everything we ing from necessity and opportunity. Becco believes that thisneed to make it happen, and I believe we have an obligation to revolution began in February 2007, when Steve Jobs launcheddo so."SW18/ SEEDWORLD.COMLATAM'