Short distances,
lower risk

When farmers open a bag of corn seed, the teams in corn seed production and line production as well as the seed multipliers in Europe and Chile can already look back on several years of planning and work. This is because production of the parent seed precedes seed propagation for the corn hybrids. The successive steps in seed corn production comprise planning, field production and seed processing.

Seed is propagated in the field locally in various regions of Europe located between 44 and 48 degrees north. The propagation areas should be planned over a good glass of regional wine: If the wine tastes good, then the conditions for corn seed production are also good. Both wine growing and corn cultivation benefit from similar climatic factors.

Local cultivation in Europe spreads the risk and avoids long transport routes for large quantities of seed. That means the target market is already taken into account at the planning stage. Finally, the whole cobs with 38 percent grain moisture are picked at the beginning of the harvest and taken to the plant for drying and further processing. After bagging, farmers sow the finished seed at 22 to 34 kilograms per hectare. By way of comparison: The figure for sugarbeet is around 2.7 to 3.9 kilograms per hectare. One challenge every year is to minimize transport costs and CO2 emissions while spreading the risk and keeping costs as low as possible.

More than 60 percent of seed propagation in the field is carried out by KWS teams in Europe, and more than half of the seed produced is processed in our plants. The rest is handled by regional partners with whom there is a trusted and long-standing relationship.

Reinforcements from Chile

As insurance against crop failures due to drought, heat, storms and hail in Europe, for example, there is also contraseasonal propagation in Chile. This means that after sowing in September, seed can be replenished by being shipped to Europe in March if necessary.

In 2014, a seed processing plant was built in Ukraine, around 70 kilometers from the Romanian border. From the outset, the long-term goal was to double its capacity. Expansion of the plant began in 2021. Due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the project initially had to be interrupted in 2022, but was then completed in the past fiscal year (article in insideKWS 01.24). Investments in seed processing plants are investments in KWS’ core business, and capacities and technology are regularly adjusted. For example, dryer capacity is currently being increased in Eskişehir, Türkiye. |