Syngenta deepens effort to curtail poverty
Syngenta, a multinational agribusiness giant, will put more efforts to promote sustainable agriculture in China by seeking partnership opportunities and capitalizing on new technology, according to a top executive.
The move is part of the ChemChina-owned, Switzerland-headquartered company’s broader push to improve the sustainability of agriculture and contribute more to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, and increasing soil conservation.
“Sustainability has been a focus area for Syngenta for years. We can only achieve our business goals in a sustainable way. This is part of the success,” said Alexandra Brand, the company’s newly appointed chief sustainability officer.
CSO is a newly created role, designed to further focus Syngenta’s efforts at promoting sustainable agricultural production.
At its core, sustainability is to integrate “farm profitability, food security for consumers and environmental sustainability”, Brand told China Daily during her recent visit to China.
The company’s multifaceted agenda in China includes improving existing sustainability initiatives such as The Good Growth Plan, and developing new capabilities based on the market’s actual needs, she added.
In 2016, The Good Growth Plan in China improved the fertility of 2,200 hectares of farmland on the brink of degradation, enhanced biodiversity on 6,378 hectares of farmland, and helped 10.75 million smallholders increase productivity by 8 percent.
“We will contribute to the targets that China has set out for rural area rejuvenation, elevating people from poverty and doing good business on the environment,” Brand said.
The Chinese government has pledged to eradicate poverty by 2020, at the rate of 10 million people a year starting in 2016.
Brand said technology is key to engaging farmers in helping tackle climate change.
She said Syngenta will work with the Shenzhenbased drone maker, DJI Innovation Technology, to develop a drone spraying solution for precision application of crop protection products, starting with rice. Details will be announced this March.
In January, China issued guidelines on the development of high-tech agricultural industrial demonstration zones, highlighting the importance of technology in modernizing agriculture.
Xu Nanping, vice-minister of science and technology, said at a news conference that the key to advancing agricultural modernization lies in the development of technology.
Advanced technologies were needed to improve the competitiveness of the country’s agriculture sector at home and abroad, he said.
As a major player in the farming sector, Syngenta operates in 90 countries and regions, and employs more than 27,800 people, with at least 5,000 technicians working at 119 research and development centers. Its annual R&D budget averages $1.3 billion.