Taking Care of People, Plants & The Planet
Claire Josephson former Marketing Manager
PanAmerican Seed stops at nothing to improve sustainability efforts throughout our entire company. We are proud to work with nature and people to produce flower seeds in an environmentally conscious and cost-effective manner – producing more while using less.
Taking care of our people and the environment has always been our No.1 priority. In 2019, several green initiatives were implemented at our sites around the globe, including Linda Vista (Costa Rica), Floricultura (Guatemala), Ball Horticultural (Kunming) and Semillas PanAmerican (Chile) – and the results were impressive.
It all starts with sustainability best practices. All of our PanAmerican production sites are currently MPS (More Profitable Sustainability) Certified, providing qualified proof that our company produces plants in the best conditions while better protecting the environment.
Our best practices continue by ensuring our plants stay healthy. This year, PanAmerican Seed worked with nature to control the stress of pests in an eco-friendly way with our Integrated Pest Management system. This included 800 million seeds produced using Biocontrol (the use of living organisms to depress the population of a pest), while 8 million predators were released into the environment to promote this approach. Plus, 474 million seeds were produced by bee pollination!
Another green advancement was the transition to 100% organic recyclable media Coco Fiber, using 4,000 m3 this year, which is more cost-effective than traditional peat moss. Our irrigation techniques also set new standards this year, increasing rain-water storage and saving 55 million liters of water! Plus, we discontinued the use of 600 tons of coal and 3,800 liters of bunker oil.
On top of these many green initiatives came another outstanding ecological improvement for 2019, with the amount of resources we were able to recycle: 20 tons of metal, 15 tons of plastic and 3,331 liters of oil. We’ve also assisted in reforestation planting 488 trees!
We’ve not only improved our sustainability within the environment, but we’ve also strived to better our employee experience as well. This year, PanAmerican Seed provided 47,000 free breakfasts and 2,090 free food baskets to our employees, as well as several holiday parties and celebrations where 4,833 employees attended. Plus, 650 employees received discounted transportation; we’ve offered 30 educational scholarships; and provided complimentary medical checkups such as dentistry, blood tests, vaccinations and more – treating 5,070 employees for free.
To find out more about our innovative sustainability initiatives at PanAmerican Seed, download our 2019 Production Sustainability Report from our Technical Manager Gus Tassara or check out the video below.
