Syngenta boosts innovation to empower China's agriculture sector

Syngenta Group, the Basel, Switzerland–headquartered agricultural technology company, has made accelerating innovation a strategic priority for the next five years, including expanding its digital agriculture technologies to more Chinese farmers, a senior executive said.

Qin Hengde, chief financial officer of Syngenta Group, said the company invested $1.9 billion in innovation in 2024 and plans to invest $2 billion in agricultural sustainability by the end of 2025.

"Through accelerated innovation, we aim to enable farmers around the world gain better returns with less input, while responding proactively to the escalating impacts of climate change," Qin said.

The Swiss company has taken the lead in developing a modern agricultural technology service platform, known as MAP, in China, which deeply integrates biotechnology, engineering and digital technologies with crop production.

The platform enables Chinese farmers to conveniently access a comprehensive suite of specialized services — from soil improvement and crop planning to full-cycle nutrition, crop protection, intelligent irrigation and farm machinery operations.

"By using more advanced artificial intelligence technologies, we can increase the output of high-yield grain regions such as Shandong and Jiangsu provinces, as well as northeastern and northwestern China," said Qin.

"At the same time, this will also catalyze adoption among farmers in Guizhou province, where arable land is relatively limited and large-scale mechanized farming is relatively difficult," he added.

Syngenta Group has established an extensive research and development network in China comprising 10 research and development centers, six national-level platforms and numerous experimental stations, covering core and emerging fields such as biotechnology, green crop protection, soil health, digital agriculture and integrated farming.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, scientific and technological progress contributed around 63 percent to China's agricultural growth by the end of 2024.

Meanwhile, the country's comprehensive mechanization rate for crop cultivation and harvesting exceeded 75 percent.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinochem Holdings Corp Ltd, Syngenta Group employs 56,000 people across more than 90 countries and regions. Its businesses span seeds, crop protection, plant nutrition and digital agriculture, focusing on improving farm productivity and advancing sustainable agricultural practices.