It’s unfortunate that more environmental groups don’t partner with agricultural industry leaders to work together (rather than in opposition) to improve land stewardship. That’s what makes the extension of a multi-year alliance between Syngenta and The Nature Conservancy stand out so much.
The two entities today opted to renewed their collaboration that seeks to link conservation goals with economic potential and addresses societal issues like deforestation and land degradation. The partners have been collaborating since 2009 and entered into a global collaboration in 2018.
The new three-year collaboration builds on successful projects and focuses on further advancing business practices with the goals to scale up regenerative agriculture, improve resource efficiency to minimize impact of agriculture on climate, improve soil health, and promote habitat protection in major agricultural regions worldwide including in Brazil, China, and the United States.
Syngenta has set an ambitious target to recover 1 million hectares of degraded land throughout Brazil, with a significant portion focused on the Cerrado where the TNC collaborates with the company.
In the United States, the collaboration will develop and launch two new projects: The first will focus on enhancing cropland’s climate resilience and reducing farming pressure on water resources by unlocking diverse crop rotations with regenerative sorghum production. In a parallel effort, the collaboration will also look to scale regenerative agriculture practices with seeds producers in the U.S., as part of the broader global Syngenta Seeds effort to implement regenerative agriculture in seed production. The collaboration with TNC will bring new business value to farmers, while reducing the environmental footprint of the seeds supply chain and preserving the quality of seeds delivered to customers.
Through an initiative in China, the Run Tian project has already regenerated 2,400 hectares of agricultural soils in the North China Plain, the largest wheat producing area in China. It has also trained more than 17 thousand farmers on regenerative agricultural practices, leading to increases in yields by 4 percent and better soil moisture storage.
Moving forward, Run Tian will develop new business strategies to further improve soil health to empower and support frontline producers to protect the soil ecosystem. It will also leverage Syngenta Group’s fast-growing network of Modern Agriculture Platform (MAP) centers that promote sustainable farming practices. The MAP offering helps farmers modernize their farms sustainably, while boosting crop quality, yield and farm profitability. As part of Syngenta Group’s recently published Sustainability Priorities, the company has a target to expand the number of farmer service centers to 1000 by 2028.
“We want to further leverage our efforts towards a climate solution-oriented agriculture fueled by innovation and partnerships that regenerate soil and protect nature,” said Petra Laux, Chief Sustainability Officer of Syngenta Group. “Agriculture must not only feed a growing global population over the coming decades, but it also needs to fight climate change and safeguard natural resources.”