Syngenta Joins FFAR’s Crops of the Future Consortium

BASEL and WASHINGTON (December 19, 2018) – Syngenta has joined the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) Crops of the Future Collaborative as an executive committee participant. The executive committee includes nine Crops of the Future Collaborative participants that work with FFAR to govern the consortium, assist with funding allocations and determine the direction of consortium research. Syngenta’s involvement furthers the consortium’s ambitious goals, while underscoring the company’s commitment to seed research and development and sustainable agriculture.

The Crops of the Future Collaborative is a consortium for industry partners to jointly contribute to large-scale pre-competitive research projects, fostering a comprehensive approach to address some of agriculture’s most complex challenges. The consortium is pursuing research into how a crop’s genetic information encodes important characteristics such as nutrition, disease resistance, productivity and environmental efficiency. Ultimately, the resulting breakthroughs will create more sustainable food systems benefitting all stakeholders across the value chain, from producers to consumers.

The collaboration builds upon Syngenta’s participation in the consortium’s Leafy Greens Program, a joint effort with researchers at the University of California, Davis. Over the past seven years, Syngenta has supported the university’s research into lettuce genome sequencing to improve nutrition, enhance disease resistance and reduce inputs. This research aims to reduce crop losses and improve farm profitability. In addition to leafy greens, Crops of the Future also will pursue research for corn, cereals and the development of cross crop tools and technologies.

“Syngenta is inherently aligned with the mission of Crops of the Future – to accelerate the industry’s ability to develop crops that benefit humanity,” said Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, Ph.D., head of global seeds research, Syngenta. “Global food security is going to require the efforts of more than one company. If we, as an industry, can work together to turn precompetitive research into actionable innovation, we can maximize our impact and develop crop technologies that promote sustainable food production.”

Making crops more efficient is one of the essential pillars of The Good Growth Plan, the global Syngenta initiative dedicated to improving the sustainability of agriculture.