Innovating boldly, partnering smartly: Creating value for our growers

According to the well-known African proverb if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together, and when it comes to innovation, this philosophy certainly stands.

Fostering partnerships is one of the best ways to fast-track innovation and get much-needed solutions into the hands of growers, quickly. Our distinctive R&D approach, leveraging the strengths of both Syngenta and our legacy company, Valagro, along with our committed teams of passionate scientists, has enabled us to establish an industry-leading biologicals pipeline including breakthrough solutions across key product categories. However, innovation also takes time, especially within the rapidly evolving landscape of agricultural biotechnologies, where the regulatory framework must adapt to the continuous advancements in science and technology

This provides an opportunity to partner with other industry leaders, to help meet the challenges of modern agriculture. These partnerships can come from the most unlikely of alliances, from entrepreneurs, agtech startups and R&D companies with a small distribution footprint, even from our competitors. Creating an innovation ecosystem requires a mindset shift.

No matter where they are located, growers from all corners of the world experience the same set of challenges, to varying degrees; abiotic stresses, soil erosion due to the effects of climate change, the spread of pests and diseases as well as the threat of resistance. This is where timely innovation is key. In recent weeks, we have announced a number of game-changing partnerships including with Lithos Crop Protect, Intrinsyx Bio and Ginkgo Bioworks, ensuring we can bring solutions that meet grower needs to market, even faster.

Pheromone technologies, designed to disrupt the mating habits of pests, has been a significant focus for a number of years. Through well-established collaborations with Provivi and M2i, we already offer pheromone solutions for rice growers in Indonesia, and viticulturists in France and other key wine-producing markets across the EU, with NELVIUM? and EXPLOYO? Vit, respectively. And now, through the partnership with Lithos Crop Protect, we are set to extend our pheromone offering, with the sprayable pheromone formulation, pherolit?-d, to control Western Corn Rootworm, a pest that significantly threatens corn across Europe. pherolit?-d gives growers an additional option to safeguard crops and restrain the advance of pests, improving sustainability and yield.

Our commitment to transforming agriculture is evidenced through our increased focus on helping growers maximize the nutrients found in plants and soil. Through our partnership with Intrinsyx Bio, we’ll increase grower access to new biological solutions to improve the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) of crops, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers, offering farmers greater flexibility in their nutrient management strategies while lowering the environmental impact of farming. This strengthens our position in this fast growing market segment, complementing our existing partnership with Ceres Biotic through which we have commercialized VIXERAN? in Europe. Our most recent strategic partnership, with Ginkgo Bioworks, will see Ginkgo optimize a microbial strain that can meet the productivity targets of a secondary metabolite from our pipeline. The large scale production of this targeted metabolite will significantly expedite our go-to-market timeline for our latest biological solution, meaning it is the hands of growers, faster.

The value generated by the partnerships with other innovators in our industry goes beyond products. Innovation through partnership can enhance the adoption of more sustainable farming practices, helping growers obtain better yields, secure their income, and protect their soils and legacy. I am confident that the future is even brighter in our industry when we innovate boldly, together, and partner to bring more sustainable solutions that address the problems of growers everywhere.