Switzerland’s Syngenta, a large seed and crop protection agent producer in the world, has completed the acquisition of all relevant assets of The Cropio Group, an Ag Tech company with one of the four offices located in Kyiv. The Cropio platform is an equipment-integrated, end-to-end software solution that provides imaging, recordkeeping, and equipment tracking. Approximately 10 million hectares of crops are currently managed using Cropio.
“Cropio is a leading player in the Eastern European digital agriculture market, and Syngenta is gaining a hub for Ag Tech innovation in Europe that will help increase farmer sustainability, productivity, efficiency and profitability,” Chief Information and Digital Officer at Syngenta Greg Meyers said.
With this acquisition, Syngenta will be the only agricultural company to have access to leading management platforms in the top four agriculture markets: in the United States with Land.db, Brazil with Strider, China with the Modern Agricultural Platform and now Eastern Europe with Cropio. Combined, more than 40 million hectares globally will be managed using a Syngenta digital tool, with a plan to double by the end of 2020.
The financial conditions of the deal are not disclosed.
Syngenta, one of the world’s largest producers of plant and seed protection agents, has opened a Digital Innovation Lab in Kyiv, the sixth platform in the company’s global network of laboratories. “Our laboratories in other countries focus on researching and studying consumer demand for digital products, developing concepts and creating prototypes of products. The Ukrainian laboratory will complement their work by offering a full cycle of developing solutions – from research and modeling of test samples of digital products to creating working versions ready for launch with real users and integrated with Syngenta systems,” Benjamin Ninio, the head of the global direction of digital technologies at Syngenta, said during the opening of the company’s laboratory.
According to him, over the past year and a half Syngenta has launched five similar projects in different countries of the world. Now the laboratories operate in the United States, China, India, Singapore, and the UK.
The laboratory office in Kyiv is located in the innovative and technological park Unit.city.
Syngenta is one of the world leaders in plant protection and seed production. The company employs 28,000 people in more than 90 countries of the world.
DIGITAL INNOVATION, LAB, SYNGENTA, TECHNOLOGICAL PARK, UNIT.CITY
Syngenta in Ukraine in partnership with the USAID project Agriculture and Rural Development Support have created the Club of Strategic Partners of the Fruit and Vegetable Market, the first meeting of which was held in Kyiv on May 22.
The initiators of the club announced at the meeting it will unite producers, processors, retailers and restaurateurs in order to stabilize the fruit and vegetable business and fill the Ukrainian market with vegetables and fruits of domestic production, as well as improve product quality and establish a dialogue and interaction between players.
According to Kseniya Sydorkina, the deputy director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Support project, agricultural producers need to adapt the best world practices of agricultural production to remain competitive. New challenges arise for producers and processors, in particular, the introduction of international quality and product safety standards.
“Over the past few years, the needs and preferences of the fruit and vegetable market have changed dramatically. The growth of welfare of the countries in the world creates new consumer preferences for the type, quality, packaging, presentation of agricultural products, which require changing approaches to doing business. Manufacturers, procurers, processors, retail chains need a common platform for an open dialogue and effective partnership. The club of strategic partners is a wonderful initiative,” she noted.
The USAID project Agriculture and Rural Development Support is planned until 2020 and aimed at promoting an integrated and sustainable economic growth through the development of the agricultural sector and the creation of more attractive living conditions in the rural areas of Ukraine.
Syngenta is one of the world leaders in the field of plant protection agents and seed production. The company employs 28,000 people in more than 90 countries.
