b'Drone technology, adopted out of necessity during the pandemic, is now a core tool for real-time field monitoring in counter-season seed production.Golden hour over a thriving seed corn field in Chilewhere pandemic-driven remote management has given rise to long-term production gains.ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ANPROSCHILEAN SEED ASSOCIATIONBack to the BeginningLets go back for a moment to the initial response in 2020. The borders of Chile and other countries closed temporarily to air travel. Movement within the coun-try was also restricted. However, Chilean authorities quickly established clear pro-tocols that supported the ongoing opera-tions of seed companies, enabling them to adapt their working methods, explains lia de Domnech, BASF global head of communications for vegetable seeds. Among other actions, the govern-ment declared agriculture to be of stra-tegic importance, enabling those in seed production and other ag-related activities How a Global Crisisto move around with proper paperwork. Companies such as Curimapu Export created online platforms for custom-ers to check on each field, with access Changed Seedto imagery at the ground level and from above using drones and satellites. They also created detailed weekly reports for each field and much more. Production Forever From the U.S., we were able to do field inspections, grow-out readings, a breeder could talk to another in the field, looking at phenotypes together, explains Jim Schweigert, president of Wisconsin-based Looking at counter-season production fiveGro Alliance, who operates a joint ven-years since the COVID-19 pandemic. ture in Chile with CIS Semillas called CIS Alliance, located just south of Santiago. By Treena Hein, Seed World U.S. Contributor And things have continued to improve. The quality of the imagery, along with ITS BEEN FIVE YEARSsince U.S.industry partners, members of the Chileaninternet connectivity and coverage reliabil-seed companies and their partnersSeed Association (ANPROS) and othersity, is so excellent, that with the real-time to the south were forced, due to theharnessed the available technologiesassistance of a field technician, its no dif-pandemic, to get creative in managingto ensure business activities rolled outferent than being there. counter-season production in Chile andas closely as possible to normal. AndThis means Schweigert and others other countries.while their swift and effective changestravel less to Chile. Before the pandemic, Looking back, 2020 presented bigaddressed immediate challenges (in Marchhe went in December to check fields and barriers relating to the movement of2020, there were no issues shipping seedlook at needs for the rest of the season. He people and seed to complete the yearlyout of Chile), those changes are now per- would again get on a plane in January or schedules. As was the case in othermanent, and theyve expanded because ofFebruary to check crop progress and then locales, in Chile, the government, globaltheir profound benefits. return in March for harvest and shipping. 18/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2025'