Germany - Crop protection remains Syngenta’s core business; seeds, biologicals, agricultural services being significantly expanded

At this year's spring press conference, two Syngenta managing directors, Annette Candreia (Syngenta Agro GmbH) and Dr. Heike Köhler (Syngenta Seeds GmbH), highlighted the importance of innovation as the key driver of productive and sustainable agriculture. 

High-quality seeds, technical innovations to promote plant and soil health, and digitalized agriculture are becoming increasingly important for the economic performance of agricultural businesses. Syngenta aims to make its customers future-proof with appropriate solutions and sees itself in an excellent position due to its targeted investments in research and development. 

Strong crop protection solutions

″The experiences of the past few years have shown that there are no longer easy-to-plan infestation scenarios,″ said technology manager Dr. Marina Mellenthin. ″Therefore, fungicide strategies should focus more strongly than in the past at achieving the best possible and long-lasting broad-based protective effects against all key cereal diseases,″ she added. The proven product, ELATUS Era, offers this outstanding all-round performance with carboxamide solatenol, which will also receive approval for use in legumes during 2024. For solid performance in less intensive locations, the fungicide, AMISTAR Max, has now been approved for the 2024 season and is also available. AMISTAR Max contains the anti-resistance components, Folpet, and strobilurin azoxystrobin. 0.4GR for wireworm control in corn and potatoes. 

Biostimulants from Syngenta: The pipeline is full 

The biostimulants product group is a strategic priority for Syngenta. Appropriate resources are being invested in development and research, underlining Syngenta's efforts to create innovations. 

″Our many years of research experience in the development of effective products assist us in the biostimulants segment. Because developing biostimulants is more than just ″filling cocktails of unknown origin into canisters,″ Mellenthin said. ″All biostimulants currently launched in the market by Syngenta have or are expecting CE certification and, therefore, proof of effectiveness in 2024,″ she added.

After the introduction of Nutribio N for increasing nutrient efficiency, Megafol for increasing stress tolerance, and Quantis for increasing tolerance to heat stress), the launches of YieldON for increasing yields in rapeseed and MC Cream for increasing quality in fruit growing will follow in the next few years. 

Syngenta's Biological Service Center near Frankfurt, which opened in 2023 and is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, is geared towards the growing importance of biological solutions. At the center, new biological developments are put through their paces and intensively analyzed after they are first sold.

EVOPAC: The new packaging for all liquid products 

This year, Syngenta is introducing new canisters for liquid crop protection products that aim to make crop protection products even more user friendly and environmentally friendly. The EVOPAC canister is equipped with an easyconnect cap, which uses a closed transfer system (easyconnect system) to prevent both users’ contact with crop protection products and the possible spillage of crop protection products when emptying (www.evopac.de). For the spring season in 2024, the fungicide, Dynali, which is used in viticulture, will be offered in EVOPAC. From the fall season in 2024, the entire Syngenta range of liquid products will be gradually converted to the new EVOPAC.  

Seeds from Syngenta: An essential part of operational risk management

Farmers currently face many challenges and operational risks during crop management. For example, increasing climatic changes require new, more stress-tolerant varieties and thoughtful variety selection. ″We have breeding and digital solutions for many operational risks,″ said Dr. Heike Köhler. ″Syngenta has been focusing on yield stability in the development of new varieties for many years. Even under difficult conditions, farmers can achieve reliable yields. The hybrid barley that we sell under the Hyvido umbrella brand is a very good example of this. Hyvido has high nitrogen efficiency and tolerance to abiotic stress factors, meaning that farmers in red areas or during years with little rainfall can achieve stable yields,″ she added.

This year, Syngenta is not only celebrating 20 years of hybrid barley, it will also launch the hybrid barley variety SY Zoomba. For the first time, this variety combines maximum yields with real resistance (Ryd4 gene) to the barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) and tolerance to the wheat dwarf virus (WDV), making it unique in the local seed market. The new technology, ″Hyvido Neo,″ solves the ever-increasing BYDV problem faced by many farmers in Germany.

In addition to strong hybrid barley varieties, Syngenta is also proud of its concepts and solutions in corn cultivation. The company is convinced that the risk in corn cultivation can be significantly reduced through diversification, in other words, the cultivation of different varieties. MaxiMaize from Syngenta follows this concept, in which the breeding company’s top varieties are combined, leading to increased yield stability in various maturity segments. Syngenta also has Artesian varieties in its portfolio, which have broad environmental flexibility and increased tolerance to drought stress.

Expansion of the ″Cropwise″ digital platform

Syngenta is continuing to expand its range of digital services under the ″Cropwise″ umbrella brand. The ″Cropwise Seed Selector″ and ″Cropwise Planting″ services, which have been successfully introduced, are enjoying increasing market acceptance. Over the past three years, Syngenta has established over 15,000 agricultural businesses in Europe, with around 48,000 fields or 2.8 million ha being advised on the choice of variety appropriate to location.

″The quality of our digital service offerings is unique in Germany and Europe,″ said Köhler. ″Through our CropEX testing network, we collect data across Europe at over 270 locations with more than 50,000 trials for optimal variety selection, as well as around 470,000 results from various variety trials. All data is then incorporated into the development and further optimization of Cropwise,″ she added. 

The offerings, ″Cropwise Imagery″, Cropwise Protector (pilot phase), and ″Cropwise Spray Assist″ with the extension, ″Cropwise Spray Assist Pro,″ are available for the targeted use of crop protection products. ″With the Pro extension, users can utilize the selected products even more safely,″ said the company’s marketing manager, Ulrich Kirnberger. The app analyzes weather data and application goals to recommend the ideal nozzle and most efficient machine settings. In addition, it breaks down which product-specific distance requirements to bodies of water, edge structures and slope inclination must be adhered to when drift reduction is selected. ″Such a service is unique in the market. Our service is connected to the Homologa ®database, allowing the app to provide access to current product data for all crop protection products approved for cereals, maize, potatoes, rapeseed, and sugar beet,″ Kirnberger said. 

INTERRA ^® Scan: Ground scanning and mapping service available from 2025

Knowledge about the nature of the soil is crucial to its sustainable use. The digital service, INTERRA ^® Scan, analyzes and interprets soil data for nutrient availability, soil texture, organic matter, and water availability, with an unsurpassed level of detail. The ground scanner records up to 27 soil parameters and provides the world's most precise mapping of the soil condition of a field to date. Based on the new service, precise application maps can be created for the area-specific use of resources. INTERRA ^® Scan will be available to customers in Germany from 2025.