Syngenta CEO at SEF 2024: Agriculture is extremely innovative
Published: Friday, Jun 7th 2024, 13:20
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Syngenta CEO Jeff Rowe considers agriculture to be one of the most exciting industries in terms of innovation. "There are some really cool and innovative developments there," said Rowe, who grew up as a farmer's son in the USA, at the Swiss Economic Forum in Interlaken.
However, other regions are already much further ahead than Europe in terms of the use of technological aids, said the head of the agrochemical group. "In the USA and Brazil, farms have access to top technologies and innovative tools," he said. This is much less the case here.
"This puts them at a strategic disadvantage," says Rowe. He could therefore understand the farmers' displeasure and their protests to a certain extent. "If the farmers are unhappy, it is important that they are listened to," he said.
As an American, he did not want to comment on the upcoming presidential elections in his country. However, he pointed out that Syngenta had already survived a Trump presidency once before. "We were doing well during that time," said Rowe.
However, he dislikes the fact that the relationship between the USA and China is currently very fractured. "The world would be a better place if the two countries could find a way to get along." China is the biggest customer for American agricultural products.
Increase production
Rowe sees his company as an important player when it comes to securing the world's food supply: "We are heading towards a global population of 10 billion people." The demand for food will therefore increase by 50 to 70 percent, he said, referring to statistics.
However, this increased demand is compounded by the challenges of climate change. "Extreme weather makes a reliable, consistent harvest more difficult."
So if we want to produce more, we need to increase productivity and efficiency in agriculture. "Because if we can't do that, we need more arable land. And that in turn would mean that we would have to cultivate areas of land that should not be cultivated, such as rainforests," says Rowe. That would have a catastrophic effect on the climate.
He also sees part of the solution for greater efficiency in switching to regenerative agriculture. This is because around 40 percent of the world's agricultural land is currently "degraded", i.e. overused. In regenerative agriculture, farmers protect their soil, for example by planting different crops, i.e. through biodiversity. However, switching to this form of production takes a lot of time, says Rowe. "It won't be quick, but it will be strong."
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