The company's work in soybeans wins a major international prize for using data analytics and applied mathematics to help accelerate genetic gain.
NK Soybean seeds benefit from advanced genetics.
By Suzanne Bopp / Photography by Scott Stewart
When it comes to seeds, Syngenta research and development (R&D) makes
possible more than 500 breeding launches worldwide each year in eight
major crops.
In 2015, the company's work in soybeans helped it win the prestigious
Franz Edelman Award from INFORMS, the largest society in the world for
professionals in operations research, management science and analytics.
"Syngenta is an industry leader in data analytics and applied
mathematics," says Joseph Byrum, Ph.D., the company's global head of
product development for soybeans.
"The proof of that is our Edelman
prize win. No one from agriculture has ever been invited to compete for
it, let alone won it."
To growers, the R&D efforts mean an acceleration of genetic gain. "The
culmination of all the science and applied mathematics is yield," Byrum
says. "We're long overdue for a mathematical revolution in agriculture."
The recent introduction of four innovative trait technologies has
redefined the landscape for corn production: Agrisure Viptera® trait
stacks, which offer higher grain quality through the most comprehensive
insect control; Agrisure Duracade® trait, which features a unique mode
of action essential for managing corn rootworm; Agrisure Artesian®, an
elite class of hybrids that optimize the conversion of available
water-optimization hybrids to grain; and Enogen® corn enzyme technology,
the industry's first and only biotech corn designed specifically to
enhance ethanol production. "These four technologies, built on our
extensive germplasm platform, are industry-changing," says Dwight
Bostwick, Ph.D., head of North America corn breeding projects for
Syngenta. "We're probably the most innovative company out there in terms
of traits released to the marketplace over the last five or six years."
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