Agriculture giant Syngenta to grow in China as Beijing seeks food security, sustainability
Company aims to expand service centre network to 1,000 by 2028 from around 600 currently in an effort to educate more farmers
Syngenta Group, one of the world’s largest agricultural technology firms, aims to boost its sales and service network in China by two-thirds in four years as the nation strives to achieve food-security and sustainability objectives.
The company has set a target to expand its “modern agricultural platform” service centres in the country to 1,000 by 2028 from just over 600 currently, said Petra Laux, chief sustainability officer of the Basel, Switzerland-based company.
“In China, which has a fifth of the global population and just 9 per cent of the arable land, there are still many gaps in productivity [compared] with other major growing nations for soybeans and corn,” she told the Post.
“At the same time, there is a need to promote farming practices that help preserve biodiversity, improve water retention and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.”
With limited land and water and an ambition to boost food self-sufficiency, China must greatly increase farming productivity through technology, including genetically modified seeds and advanced crop protection products.
In April, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a report projecting that self-sufficiency in staple food crops would rise to 92 per cent by 2033, with annual production growth of 1.1 per cent exceeding consumption growth of 0.3 per cent.
