ISF World Seed Congress 2026: resilient futures start with seeds but depend on better decisions

This year’s ISF World Seed Congress in Lisbon was held under the theme “Joint Actions, Resilient Futures” a message that captured not only the spirit of the event, but also the direction in which the global seed industry is moving.

The conversations in Lisbon were not only about new varieties, regulation or international trade. They were increasingly about how the seed sector can build resilience in a world shaped by climate uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, regulatory pressure, changing consumer expectations and the growing need for food security.

As Michael Keller, Secretary General of ISF, said:

“The World Seed Congress in Lisbon has shown that, even in a time of constant change and volatility, our members, representing 96% of global seed trade, are committed to continue working together — across regions, crops, business models, and generations.”

That statement reflects one of the strongest messages of this year’s congress: the future of the seed industry will not be shaped by one technology, one regulation or one market alone. It will depend on collaboration, trust, transparency, innovation and the ability to use knowledge more effectively.

Part 1: What ISF 2026 showed about the future of the seed industry

Collaboration is becoming a condition for resilience

One of the clearest messages from this year’s congress was the need for collaboration across regions, crops, business models and areas of expertise.

The seed industry is global, but many of its challenges are deeply local. Farmers in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America operate in different climatic, regulatory and market conditions. Distribution models vary. Access to technology varies. The needs of growers and food systems vary.

Yet these markets are connected by one shared need: a stable, innovative and responsible seed system.

That is why the theme “Joint Actions, Resilient Futures” felt so relevant. It invited the industry to look at seeds not as an isolated category, but as a foundation of a much larger food system.

Seed World captured this shift very clearly:

“The seed sector can no longer afford to think only about seeds.”

This does not mean moving away from the core of the industry. It means expanding the perspective. Seeds remain the starting point, but their impact reaches far beyond production. They influence food security, farmer resilience, sustainability, innovation, trade and the ability of entire markets to respond to crisis.

Data is no longer just a support function

Another topic that came up repeatedly during the congress was data not as a buzzword, but as a real operational and strategic challenge.

Seed companies already collect huge amounts of information: trial results, field observations, variety performance data, quality data, feedback from partners, market information, sales insights and expert knowledge from technical teams.

The challenge is often no longer the lack of data. It is fragmentation.

Data lives in different files, systems, reports, presentations and teams. It is not always easy to compare, update, interpret or translate into action. As a result, valuable knowledge can remain underused.

This is an important shift in how digitalization is being discussed. The industry does not need technology for the sake of technology. It needs better ways to translate knowledge into decisions: which varieties to develop, how to shape the portfolio, how to communicate product value, how to prepare reports, how to support sales teams and how to shorten the path from trial results to market action.

In this context, data is no longer just a record of past performance. It becomes a source of competitive advantage.

AI is moving from curiosity to practical use cases

Artificial intelligence was one of the topics that naturally appeared in many conversations. What was particularly interesting is that the discussion is becoming more practical.

Instead of asking only whether AI will change agriculture, companies are asking where it can help today.

The most common areas of interest included trial result analysis, automated reporting, work with large datasets, product content preparation, pattern recognition and faster interpretation of technical information.

This shows that the seed industry is starting to look at AI more pragmatically. Not as a promise of revolution, but as a tool that can reduce manual work, lower the risk of errors and help teams use existing knowledge faster.

At the same time, AI does not replace the expertise of breeders, product managers, technical teams or sales specialists. Its real value lies in supporting them where data work becomes too complex, repetitive or difficult to scale.

Transparency and trust will matter even more

Trust was another important theme of this year’s ISF especially in the context of innovation, gene editing, sustainability and the broader food value chain.

The seed industry increasingly needs to explain the value it creates: not only to companies and distributors, but also to farmers, regulators, partners and consumers.

Innovation cannot stay locked inside laboratories, research reports or expert discussions. It needs to be communicated clearly, transparently and with strong evidence.

This is especially important when it comes to new breeding techniques, variety resilience, production efficiency and sustainability. If the industry wants to build trust, it needs to show not only that a solution is innovative, but why it matters and who benefits from it.

As Eduard Fito, Chair of the ISF Value Chain Coordination Group, said:

“The seed sector cannot operate in isolation anymore.”

This sentence captures another visible shift: the seed industry increasingly sees itself as part of a wider system food, regulation, environment, trade and society.

Sustainability requires concrete decisions

Sustainability was not treated as a separate topic at this year’s congress. It appeared as one of the key dimensions of the industry’s future.

It is becoming clear that sustainability in the seed sector cannot be reduced to ESG declarations. It is about concrete decisions: which varieties to develop, how to support climate resilience, how to improve access to quality seed, how to use resources more efficiently and how to work across the entire food value chain.

Seeds are the starting point for many processes that later influence food production, the environment, farm profitability and market stability. This is why the future of the seed industry is also a conversation about the future of agriculture and food systems.

A historic moment for ISF

This year’s congress also had a symbolic dimension. During the General Assembly, Lorena Basso from Argentina was appointed the first female President of ISF in the organization’s 102-year history.

In her speech, she said:

“We are here because we believe that seeds matter. We are here because we know that our work has an impact beyond ourselves: on farmers, on food systems, on innovation, on climate resilience, and on future generations.”

This quote brings together the broader message of the congress: the seed industry is not a narrow technical sector. It is one of the foundations of the future of agriculture, food systems and global resilience.