Dive Brief:
- Syngenta will expand the use of a real-time soil monitoring system to help farmers in the Midwest grow more corn with fewer inputs, according to a Tuesday announcement.
- The company will scale its partnership with Israel-based CropX, a developer of a farm management platform that helps growers lower their water use while improving crop health.
- The expansion follows a successful trial conducted last year on a subset of seed corn production acres in Nebraska and Illinois, Syngenta said.
Dive Insight:
One of the world's largest seed companies continues to grow its digital portfolio as farmers look for lower-cost solutions to increase productivity while seeking sustainability gains.
CropX's management system collects data from soil sensors, satellites and on-farm machinery, providing farmers with personalized analysis on the health of their soil and crops. Farmers can monitor irrigation, disease, field data management and nutrient use through an app.
“We selected CropX because its top-notch hardware and software enabled us to optimize irrigation and safeguard our yields,” Gilber Argenta, Syngenta head of North America seed production and supply chain, said in the release. “It has allowed us to keep our finger on the pulse of our fields, ultimately improving crop health.”
Syngenta has built up several digital farming solutions under its Cropwise platform for growers to monitor crops and make informed decisions around planting, spraying and other aspects of their operations. Cropwise's sustainability tool, available for free, allows growers to see how sustainable their operations are compared to peers by collecting data on soil health, biodiversity impact and water usage.
