On September 15, Syngenta Group China released the co-building platform for the seed industry and announced the official opening of the second phase of the Yangling Technology Center. At the ceremony, the National Maize Seed Industry Innovation Center and Syngenta Group China jointly called for the launch of the “Action Plan on Boosting High Yield Maize” and unveiled the Northwest Center of the National Maize Seed Industry Innovation Center. Ye Niuping, Vice Governor of Shaanxi Provincial Government, Zhang Tianzuo, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Erik Fyrwald, CEO of Syngenta Group, attended the event.

In March 2021, with the approval of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the construction of the National Maize Seed Industry Innovation Center with Syngenta Group as the main body of operation was launched, and was officially unveiled in Beijing in October. As one of the first three national innovation centers to start construction in China’s agricultural field, the center marks a significant initiative for China to implement its innovation-driven development strategy and establish and improve the national industry innovation system. The center is committed to building the strategically scientific and technological strength of China’s seed industry, integrating industry edges and leading the development of the industry.

As the core carrier of the National Maize Seed Industry Innovation Center, the first phase of Yangling Technology Center was put into use in 2021. The second-phase project of Yangling Technology Center launched this time is aimed at the integration and improvement of advanced breeding technology. Upon its full openness, it will become one of the leading digital high-throughput commercial breeding centers in China.

The Yangling Technology Center has introduced the ERDH-GS technology independently developed by Syngenta Group, which can accomplish high-throughput industrialization of the breeding process. The center can produce hundreds of thousands of haploid inbred lines every year, which can fully meet the needs of Syngenta Group’s product line for future seed R&D in China.

The second phase of the project builds China’s first large-scale automatic greenhouse with stepless dimming technology, which embraces branding new LED stepless dimming technology. Compared with traditional greenhouses, it has the characteristics of higher light source utilization, lower energy consumption, and safer light source technology, etc.

Yangling Technology Center will first focus on the R&D of corn seeds, and will gradually expand to rice, vegetables and other crops in the future to create an open and sharing platform for R&D resources. The center will also work with the Beijing Innovation Center, Wuhan Science and Technology Center, and Sanya Nanfan Base to form Syngenta Group’s world-class efficient R&D and innovation system of the modern seed industry in China. In the future, the center will rely on Syngenta Group’s global superior resources and advanced breeding technology, combined with China’s local independent innovation strength, to accelerate the revitalization of the seed industry through the technology-enabled co-building platform and the National Maize Seed Industry Innovation Center, so as to contribute to boosting grain production and safeguarding national food security.