b'THEIN LATE MAY,Istanbul proved itself the center of the seed world as it played host to this years ISF World Seed Congress. With its 15 SPEED million residents, bridging of two continents and location at the mouth of the worlds busiest ship-ping lane, the city mirrored the energy of World OF SEED Seed Congress itself: fast-paced, deeply con-nected and brimming with momentum. World Seed Congress 2025s numbers tell part of the story:Inside World 1,600+ attendeesSeed Congress 70+ countries represented 75 exhibition booths2025: big 300 trading tablesnumbers, bold 327 hours of scheduled tradingideas and whyWhat the numbers dont capture is the intensity collaborationof the conversations and the speed of connection. One moment I was in discussion with regulators is the newand seed testers from three countries, strategizing currency. how to make phytosanitary issues matter beyond By Madeleine Baerg,technical circles. The next, I was workshopping how Seed World Executiveto position an equipment manufacturers innovation VP, Operations for a global audience. Minutes later, I was inter-viewing ISFs Regulatory Affairs Manager, Khaoula Belhaj Fragnire, about the growing weaponizationISF and the World Seed Congress organizing team of food access. celebrate a job well done at World Seed Congress Across the venue, 1,600 others were havingspectacular gala wrap-up at ra an Palace.similarly intense, high-value conversations, many with a similar underlying theme: how do we better align across companies, countries, and roles to unlock opportunity? How do we combine what I do, what you do, what they do to push the seed sector higher? As one delegate said to me between sessions, Everyones moving fast. Im here because the only way to get ahead is to find the right people to move with.Ultimately, the biggest thing I took home from three days in Istanbul was this reminder: its not good enough to be willing to collaborate. Given that the seed sector is the starting point for eve-rything from food systems to climate resilience to global stability, we need active and intentional effort to collaborate across regions, through complexity and along the entire value chain. What are you great at? Lets combine that with what Im great at and make some business-building, world- Why unity matters now: ISFs Michael Keller talks feeding, climate-stabilizing, political unrest-calmingtrade, trust, tension and the future of seed with magic. Are you ready?SW Madeleine Baerg.24/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2025'