Syngenta has entered into a public/private partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center to develop and advance wheat technologies throughout the world—a strategic alliance that could ultimately benefit many of Canada’s wheat producers.
In the next decade, public-private collaboration will be essential for advancing agriculture to meet global challenges such as food security, climate change, natural resource depletion, and access to technology. This spring, Syngenta and CIMMYT formed a research alliance to advance wheat technology in both developed and developing countries.
Wheat is one of the most important food crops around the world and the single largest food import in developing countries, but many feel in recent years the crop has failed to achieve the technological advancements that crops such as canola and soybeans have. The new partnership between Syngenta and CIMMYT aims to remedy that, bringing together the experience of a multi-national research and development company, with the agronomy and breeding knowledge of a philanthropic institute to compliment each others’ agricultural abilities.
Both companies share a common vision of developing new wheat varieties with increased yields and production in a sustainable manner so as not to harm the environment. John Bloomer, Global Head of Cereals with Syngenta, says this common vision doesn’t stop there. The companies aim to benefit the world’s farmers rich and poor.
The agreement will leverage Syngenta’s highly developed genetic marker technology, advanced traits platform, and wheat breeding for the developed world, along with CIMMYT’s access to wheat genetic diversity, global partnership network, and wheat breeding program targeted to the developing world. “We will help to bring modern wheat technology tools to farmers everywhere,” says Bloomer.
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