Syngenta Revolutionizes Crop Production, Wins Prestigious Prize

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.
NK Soybean seeds benefit from advanced genetics.
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.
Syngenta Wins Prestigious Prize
"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."