Syngenta develops drought-tolerant maize variety

The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (the Foundation) has recently announced a partnership program with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to develop drought-tolerant maize for smallholder farmers in Asia, including Vietnam.

The five-year program aims to help smallholder farmers who lack access to irrigation to grow more food and increase their incomes to improve their life.

Drought-tolerant African maize developed by CIMMYT will be crossed with Syngenta varieties bred for Asia, applying Syngenta’s genetic mapping technology to speed and refine the selection of high-yielding, drought-tolerant maize varieties. Both organizations will contribute valuable expertise in breeding crops for enhanced drought tolerance to the project. Seed varieties and information generated will be made available for use by local seed companies and public crop breeding programs throughout South and Southeast Asia.