St. Louis' Geospatial and Agri-Tech communities planting seeds in Latin America

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis' Geospatial and Agricultural Tech communities say they're planting seeds in Latin America.

Members of BioSTL, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, World Trade Center, and Taylor Geospatial Institute have recently returned from a summit in Brazil.

Dr. Nadine Alameh, exective director of Taylor Geospatial tells KMOX St. Louis partnerships could be a tremendous resource for farmers and agriculture companies in Brazil and beyond.

"(The technology) could pick the sensors from the tractors, in the soil, from the drones, from space," said Alameh.

Brazil is a leading producer of coffee, soybeans, beef, and crop-based ethanol.

Alameh also tells KMOX there's an emerging agri-business start-up culture in South America.

"What we are trying to encourage from all these start-up companies and established businesses is that when they are ready to expand in the U.S., they can do it right here in St. Louis in the middle of the United States," said Alameh.

Alameh says geospatial technology provides real-time data and analytics to help farmers make better decisions about what to plant, when and where.