Syngenta to focus efforts on hybrid wheat breeding

Syngenta, an agriculture company dedicated to improving global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources, has announced its intentions to make concerted efforts in North America to transition its wheat breeding to the development of hybrid varieties.

To that end, Northern Seed LLC will acquire Syngenta’s triticale program, including the Vernon, Texas, site.

Triticale is a grain produced by cross-breeding wheat and rye. It is primarily grown to be used as feed for livestock.

“This transaction will concentrate resources on our work to commercialize hybrid wheat,” Darcy Pawlik, cereal product lead for Syngenta in North America, said. “We are focusing our efforts in the primary wheat growing areas in North America, which will lead to enabling further expansion."

Syngenta officials said the plan for for the company to focus on variety development and expects to see peak sales of more than $3 billion for its efforts. Additionally, Syngenta will develop hybrid wheat for major wheat market segments in North America.

“So far, our investments have enabled us to surpass a targeted 10 percent yield increase for our first generation of hybrid wheat lines,” said Pawlik, “Although we still have a great deal to learn about how to optimize growth, agronomic characteristics, and grain yield, we are confident hybrid wheat will provide a new level of yield potential and profitability for growers and our channel.”