Syngenta Annual Review 2010 - CEO Water Mandate

Syngenta
Annual Review 2010
Addressing growers’ needs
20
Cereals
By developing new varieties of wheat seeds alongside
our crop protection and seed treatment programs,
Syngenta can target productivity improvements
at many levels. We are the world leader in cereals
seeds, with cutting-edge breeding technologies
that include marker-assisted breeding and doublehaploid
technology.
In April 2010, we announced an agreement with the
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
(CIMMYT). This public-private partnership will lead to
joint research and development – in the areas of traits,
hybrid wheat, and the combination of seeds and crop
protection – to accelerate plant yield performance. It
will allow Syngenta to take advantage of its genetic
marker technology and traits platform to improve
wheat productivity in emerging markets.
Sales in Cereals
$m
Wheat is the world’s largest crop, planted on some
225 million hectares. With bread and pasta as staples
in Western diets and increasing in popularity elsewhere,
it is vital to have a plentiful supply as well as a wide
range of top-quality varieties with different taste and
milling characteristics. And, as consumption in emerging
markets increases due to changing diets, meeting the
additional demand means that the average global yield
of three tons per hectare must rise. There is no doubt
about the potential: growers in some Western European
countries already achieve more than three times
this figure.
But in the summer of 2010, world wheat production
suffered a setback from devastating fires in Russia.
In recent years, Russia has not only expanded its
domestic wheat supply, but has also become a major
exporter. So the cut in production caused world wheat
prices to rise sharply. These events highlight the need
for sustained productivity increases that enable
markets to better withstand future supply shocks.
Crop Protection 1,150
Seed Care 170
Seeds 60
Total 1,380
Expanding the offer in Eastern Europe
An immediate priority for Syngenta is to work with
growers in Russia and across Eastern Europe to
increase their long-term output and profitability.
Expanding the crop protection range is key to this. For
example, despite difficult market conditions in 2010,
sales in the region for our new cereal herbicide AXIAL ®
grew by over 50 percent. The fungicide AMISTAR ® also
expanded rapidly and is starting to take the place of
older competitor chemistry. And use of CRUISER ®
seed treatment on wheat is resulting in increased vigor,
particularly in cold conditions, and enabling growers
to plant their crop earlier.
Integrated growing systems for cereals
Globally, solutions like CRUISER ® show the potential
for crop enhancement in wheat. The plant growth
regulator MODDUS ® , in addition to its benefits in
creating a shorter, stronger plant, increases root mass,
resulting in improved water and nutrient uptake and
better tolerance to drought and heat. In 2010, we
launched the next-generation fungicide isopyrazam
on barley in the UK and on wheat in New Zealand.
Isopyrazam has a new mode of action, and controls
a wide range of diseases while delivering higher yields.
In barley it is a key element of a new integrated growing
system that enables growers to increase productivity
by treating their crop more systematically, as they
already do for wheat.
Find out more
Braving the weather
Sandy Norrie is Arable Manager at the
A J Duncan farm at Muirden in North East
Scotland. The farm has been involved with
hybrid barley since 2003, when Syngenta
launched Colossus, the world’s first hybrid
winter barley variety. Sandy also has a lot of
experience with Syngenta spring barley
varieties including Optic and, more recently,
Waggon and Forensic.
As a participant of a new hybrid barley
case study in 2010, A J Duncan profiled
Boost, Volume and Element hybrid barley
varieties. The farm saw yield improvements
of 10 percent and more, compared with
standard varieties. Combined with
Syngenta’s leading crop protection
products and expert know-how, the new
innovative hybrid barley varieties come
with major benefits. They can be grown
under challenging weather conditions,
and they deliver an improved grain quality,
helping the grower to get the most from
every hectare.
www.syngenta.com/ar2010
“The new varieties truly show an
improved performance. Not only
do we see higher yields and
better grain quality, the crops
are hardier too.”
Sandy Norrie
Arable Manager, A J Duncan farm,
Muirden, Scotland
Featured above: Sandy Norrie (left) and
Tom Mitchell, Business Manager at Syngenta.