Chile: Seed Production Growing

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Scott C. Lucas|21 May 2007

The Chilean seed production industry is expected to eclipse US $200 million by 2008, a growth of almost 300% since 1995. The country’s climatic conditions, well educated farmers, and absence of diseases and insects are among the factors that have expanded seed production, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA-FAS). The seed industry also benefits from its southern hemisphere location, which allows it to harvest and condition seeds and export them to the Northern Hemisphere in time for spring plantings. Most large multinational seed companies are present in Chile, producing seeds for both the domestic and export markets. They generally market their products through their own channels of distribution.