Syngenta at the forefront of innovation in extensive cultivation

Syngenta has shown more than 150 farmers in North Central Spain the potential of the technological combination of genetics, chemistry, biology and digital agriculture in the planting of extensive sustainable crops of cereal, corn and sunflower.

The head of the seeds unit for field crops at Syngenta Spain: Manuel Salvador Fernández highlighted at the beginning of the day: “ at Syngenta we know well the current demands of farmers. We believe that it is no longer worth bringing isolated solutions to solve isolated problems. The path to more profitable and sustainable crops goes through innovation in combined technologies, genomics, biocontrol and biostimulation and also plant protection with a better profile .”

Expert technicians from Syngenta in plant improvement and protection technologies have presented to the participants in this technology transfer day new tools to improve production, profitability and sustainability in the management of key crops in the area.

The Toyota vehicle brand and John Deere tractor brand have shared the day with Syngenta, showing their latest innovations incorporating these technologies in their machinery. With this machinery, the farmers present were able to witness a demonstration of variable sunflower planting in the field.

Digital agriculture has been one of the protagonists of the day and in this line Syngenta has presented its CROPEX® experimentation program associated with its CROPWISE® digital farm management platform.
CROPEX® is an experimental program that collects and analyzes data from the entire European network of Syngenta technological trials carried out with its main genetics of Syngenta cereal, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds in combination with biological protection and stimulation solutions and the application of the company's digital technologies. In this way, an enormous amount of data is collected and processed that is correlated to finally establish which are the most successful varietal and technological combinations for each plot and growing conditions.

In the words of David Millán , field crop expert at Syngenta: “ Through the powerful CROPEX® trial network we develop and study our hybrids, which in combination with innovative products represent a specific solution for the individual needs of our farmers. We focus on profitability and sustainability, adapting to increasingly extreme environmental conditions and increased pest and disease pressures .”

This genetics includes corn varieties with ArtesianTM technology, a tool to combat water stress, such as SY Andromeda or SY Carioca; or the latest generation of sunflower, with AIRTM technology, which has been the last to be incorporated into the Syngenta catalogue, offering flexibility in weed control thanks to its tolerance to active materials belonging to the imidazolinone families. Another novelty has been ExpressTM that have sulfo sunflower hybrids, such as Suzuka HTS, a leading variety between the two Castiles, and Subeo HTS, a reference and future hybrid in the high oleic segment.

Among the parameters correlated in CROPEX® is nitrogen uptake, where biological solutions such as Nutribio N® can provide the necessary efficiency for maximum crop performance in that uptake. This combination of genetics and biostimulation has been reinforced with the selection of a plant protection strategy against the main weeds that affect corn with solutions such as Evolya® or Elumis® or in sunflower with Listego® or Primextra®

One of the essential tools for centralizing and managing all this data to facilitate decision-making when managing your crops is the new CROPWISE® digital management platform. In the words of Fernando Plaza , head of the Digital Agriculture area at Syngenta:
“ Cropwise integrates numerous tools that allow, among other functions, rapid field monitoring of pests, weeds and diseases, geolocating all data. It also incorporates satellite image tracking, allowing the differentiation of productivity zones and optimization of the use of inputs, as well as a specific tool to help the farmer select the best seed variety in a personalized way and adapted to their growing conditions."
Syngenta has shown the integration of regenerative and conservation agriculture practices throughout its innovation, with soil health as the main pillar. In this way, those attending the conference were able to learn about the digital tool “Interra® Scan ”. A novel scanner that offers high-resolution soil mapping of up to 27 layers of information, providing producers with precise information about the health of the soil on their farms.