SYNGENTA, France

Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries. Syngenta seed product R&D seeks to breed better varieties for field crops such as corn, wheat, barley, rice, sunflower, rape, sugar beet, vegetables and flowers. It has a long-standing experience in wheat breeding, which started with the acquisition of New Farm Crops Ltd in 1987, and has since extended its footprint in North America, Europe, CIS, Australia and India. Syngenta has successfully introduced hybrid barley crop in Europe, with more than 29 % share in winter six-row feed barley in France, and good presence as well in the UK and Germany. Syngenta is leader in certified seed winter wheat market in North America, and has a good market share in spring barley and winter wheat in Europe. Syngenta’s breeding work is constantly upgraded with the newest technologies and methodologies.

Role in the project

Syngenta will be involved in work package 2 (Task 2.2) and 4 (Task 4.4). In work package 2, Syngenta will be responsible for the phenotyping of the bread wheat panel on its combined N and water stresses platform. Syngenta will also provide some of its elite hybrids and their parents to work package 2 to look at heterosis for below and aboveground physiological traits under stress conditions. In work package 4, a set of hybrids will be designed between parents carrying stress tolerant complementary genomic patterns, from the results of the genomic selection predictions obtained from the bread wheat panel investigated in task 2.2, and considering as well production constraints of hybrid seeds (anther extrusion, nick between parents, relative heights). Selected combinations will be produced using chemical hybridizing agents at Syngenta’s research location near Chartres in France.

Key persons involved

• Yann Manès
• Dr. Laurent Gervais