Syngenta re-opened R&D and seed production facility in California

Syngenta recently announced that the company will invest $11.2 million to expand newly research and development (R&D) and seed production facility in Woodland, Calif California.

 

The Woodland location is home to important cereals, corn and vegetable R&D, and vegetable seed production. The facility is a significant emphasis on research for cucurbits (i.e., watermelons, melons and squash) and its role as host to the Global Cucurbits Center of Excellence at the R&D and production Woodland station.

 

Newly-expanded facility is enabling Syngenta to bring together its entire North American cucurbit R&D leadership under one roof. Woodland also continues to be an important seed production facility.

 

The Global Cucurbits Center of Excellence is a physical representation of the strong emphasis Syngenta places on thinking like a grower, targeting individual farming challenges and taking a more holistic approach to developing and delivering integrated crop solutions. 

 

The expansion included 10,600 square feet of new office and research space, 32,000 square feet of research greenhouse space, 60,000 square feet of controlled-growth greenhouse and a nearly 5,000 square foot plant pathology lab and greenhouse. Before the expansion the research and development and office space was about 30,000 square feet.

 

Switzerland-based Syngenta has had a seed research lab in Woodland since 1973. The research lab  just a few miles from the seed research labs operated by Dow AgroSciences LLC and Monsanto Corp. In 2013, Monsanto completed a $31 million expansion of its Woodland station.

 

Just down the road in West Sacramento, Bayer CropScience this year moved its seed research from Davis into a renovated building with a nearby new research greenhouse.

 

In 2013, seed company HM Clause moved from a 4,000-square-foot office in Davis to an 11,000-square foot office in Davis. Earlier this year, HM Clause made part of the former Campbell’s research lab open to life sciences startups associated with the University of California Davis.