US (CA): Syngenta R&D center hosts global plant breeding academy

The Syngenta Woodland, Calif., research and development (R&D) Center of Excellence hosted a global scientific gathering to discuss new developments in plant breeding and related disciplines. The Syngenta Breeding Academy seeks to help Syngenta plant breeding professionals, and those who work with them, better understand R&D’s role and state of the art capabilities for meeting customer needs to feed a growing global population. The Woodland Center of Excellence is bringing together North American cucurbit research and development leadership under one roof to target farmers’ needs across the globe.

Heather Merk, Breeding Academy program lead at Syngenta, said topics addressed in Woodland included customer-driven product design and integrated breeding approaches. “To help our scientists excel in breeding and germplasm management, we bring them together to develop and enhance their technical and collaborative skills,” Merk said. “The Syngenta Breeding Academy aims to advance critical skills and competencies related to modern breeding, working with world-renowned universities and experts.”

United Kingdom-based wheat breeder David Feuerhelm said the Woodland sessions focused on using genomics to facilitate hybrid development were particularly useful. “As we start to develop hybrid wheat, we need to consider how to construct heterotic pools so we can breed the best wheat hybrids,” he said. “As a breeder, understanding what growers need from a variety to deliver to market needs, and their challenges in growing crops in a cost-efficient and sustainable manner so they are able to farm profitably, is key to breeding varieties that farmers want to grow.”

The Syngenta Breeding Academy is designed to help scientists across seed and crop protection disciplines better understand how to bring their skills to a project team, and how to leverage the interface between R&D and other disciplines to better anticipate customer needs and sustainably improve agricultural productivity.

Henry McLean is a senior field biology expert in the U.S., with a background in crop protection. Through his participation in the Syngenta Breeding Academy, McLean gained insight into how molecular markers, genomics, and other bioinformatics are being used to speed up the development of better germplasm.

“It was especially interesting to see and hear of some of the data tools that are being developed in the field to improve consistency and automation of information generation,” McLean said. “Bringing plant breeders, biologists and plant pathologists together helps foster a better understanding of the opportunities for innovation in both seed and crop protection and how the integration of aligned technologies will open doors to unforeseen opportunities.”