Syngenta continues toward goals of its Good Growth Plan

Syngenta made progress in 2015 toward all six goals of its Good Growth Plan.
Syngenta made progress in 2015 toward all six goals of its Good Growth Plan. | File photo

Syngenta made progress in 2015 toward all six goals of its Good Growth Plan, which the company hopes to achieve by 2020.

The first goal of making crops more efficient without using more land or water was achieved by establishing 1,000 reference farms and over 2,500 benchmark farms worldwide. The reference farms increased productivity by 2 percent last year.

The second goal was advanced by rescuing 1.6 million hectares of soil, bringing the total amount of farmland rescued to approximately 24 percent of the 2020 goal.

The third goal focuses on enhancing biodiversity and in 2015, approximately 900,000 hectares of agricultural landscape was enhanced for a total of 30 percent of the 2020 goal.

In 2015, Syngenta reached 17.2 million smallholders, almost achieving the 2020 goal of 20 million smallholders. The productivity was measured by the increase on smallholder reference farms.

Syngenta wants every farmer to be safe while farming, so it trained 5.7 million farm workers on better and safer farming practices. The company hopes to have trained 20 million farm workers by 2020.

Finally, Syngenta’s Fair Labor Program, which strives for fair labor conditions throughout the entire supply chain, covered more than 27,000 suppliers, or 84 percent of Syngenta’s global seed supply farms, and became the first agriculture company in India to receive the Fair Labor Association accreditation.

“With the Good Growth Plan, a global network of 3,600 farmers and many organizations in 42 countries are joining forces to demonstrate and measure the sustainable use of technology in agriculture,” Syngenta CEO John Ramsay said. "Data is independently collected and validated, and in 2015 we achieved audit level of assurance. As we drive progress towards our six commitments, we are reaching out to partners and learning from our stakeholders. In this way we can make a difference and contribute to the achievement of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals”.