Syngenta plants seeds of sustainable agriculture

Can you tell us about Syngenta’s experiences since it began operations in Vietnam?

Syngenta is one of the world's leading agribusiness companies with more than 27,000 employees in over 90 countries. Built on advanced scientific foundations, we are focused on improving crop productivity, reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint, protecting health and developing rural prosperity.

Since we began operations in Vietnam in the early 1990s, we have offered farmers a wide range of plant protection products, hybrid seeds and integrated crop solutions. Vietnam is one of our key markets in Asia and we have built our presence here through a great team of over 550 dedicated employees. With offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and a crop protection product factory in Bien Hoa, we were one of the first FDI projects in this sector. We remain confident of our significant role in the development of Vietnam’s agriculture.

Agriculture makes up a significant part of Vietnam’s economy. How has Syngenta contributed to the success of the sector?

Putting farmers at the heart of our operations and having a farmer-centric approach in everything we do is our key guiding principle.

We provide technology through our products which benefit farmers through greater yields, returns and convenience. Our range of crop protection products, including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and seed treatments help farmers protect crops from pests, diseases and weeds. Our range of vegetable seeds and hybrid corn and rice has helped farmers to achieve higher yields and better quality, often at lower cost. 

We are currently working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to test genetically modified corn varieties and hopefully this will be commercialised soon.

We provide advanced agronomy practices, farming methods and stewardship principles beyond our basic products. For example, our lead farmer network of 2,000 pioneering farmers have supported substantial increases in yields for over 200,000 growers through disseminating advanced farming practices.

We are proud to say that we’ve helped bring significant positive changes to Vietnamese farmers, by supporting them in being better in every aspect of their farming.

What are the major focuses of Syngenta’s current business?

We are currently addressing the short term challenges of unfavourable commodity prices by helping growers improve their returns on investment through our crop solutions, protocols and our superior product technologies. A good example is our phase-wise rice growing solution being introduced in the Mekong Delta.

Supporting MARD’s approach to diversify crops is a key focus. For example, converting inefficient rice paddies to high yield corn, to help reduce Vietnam’s large import bill for corn products and develop high quality local production, is strongly supported through our tailored integrated solutions, our high quality corn seeds and potentially our GM hybrids in the future.

We are keenly focused on supporting initiatives to restructure agriculture production in Vietnam. Developing efficient agriculture production at an appropriate scale through our integrated solutions which include advanced products, service and farm management technologies along with partnerships and collaborations is a key focus for Syngenta worldwide. We call it ICS – integrated crop solutions which can be used both in large-scale farms and for smallholders.

How do you view the future of Vietnam’s agriculture?

I am pleased to see farming practices in Vietnam have undergone tremendous changes over recent years with farmers rapidly adopting modern farming techniques.

I believe agriculture in Vietnam will undergo far-reaching changes in the coming years. We will need to increase food production but we need to do it sustainably. We will need to produce more food with less waste by increasing crop productivity without utilising more land, water or inputs. Reducing degradation of the soil and ensuring biodiversity will be critical. Safe usage of products and farming practices will be a necessity. And we intend to help improve the productivity of Vietnamese farmers to help achieve greater prosperity. The Good Growth Plan launched by Syngenta last year takes a holistic and sustainable approach to our growth strategy.  

I am confident that Vietnam’s agriculture will continue to prosper and remain a key pillar in its economy. We are committed to supporting Vietnamese farmers and assist the country in successfully addressing its challenges related to food security and safety, and in raising the living standards of rural communities.