134 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2018 BUSINESS NEWS Syngenta announced it will establish a major Global and North America Seeds office in the western suburbs of Chicago. Approximately 50 Syngenta Seeds business managers and employees will relocate from other U.S. locations beginning in the first half of 2019. The new site can accommodate expansion for planned growth. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach will discuss the future of plant breeding innovation, including federal policies around gene editing, at ASTA’s CSS 2018 & Seed Expo. DowDuPont announced the filing of the initial Form 10 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the separation of Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. Corteva Agriscience remains on track to separate from DowDuPont on June 1, 2019. Although Rijk Zwaan closed its most recent financial year with a slight drop in revenue and profit, largely due to the strength of the euro, the company is continuously expanding its workforce and investing heavily in research and breeding of vegetables. Origin Agritech announced that the company has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Longhan Investment Management Co., Ltd. pursuant to which both companies will work together to start the commercialization of Integrated Saline-Alkaline Land Reclamation technology in 2019, both in China and globally, and will integrate Longhan’s technologies with Origin’s seed technologies and agricultural business platform. Genomics and Bioinformatics Services, part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, is relocating and expanding to accommodate growing needs in human, plant and animal genomic research. The new facility, located at 1500 Research Parkway in the Centeq Building in College Station, will provide over 6,000 square feet of state-of-the-art sequencing facilities and office space. Construction will be complete in spring of 2019. Corteva Agriscience and the International Rice Research Institute announced a multi-year framework agreement on collaborative rice research, deployment of new breeding technologies and development of breeding programs. Effective October 1, SeedWay has acquired the vegetable seed business assets of Champion Seed Company. Since 1959, Champion Seed Company has become a trusted commercial vegetable seed provider to growers throughout Mexico, West Coast, Pacific Northwest, South Central, and Southeast United States.