Swiss agri-biotech company Syngenta announced in a press release that it had entered into a 8-year research collaboration with Anhui Rice Research Institute (ARRI) of Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China. The collaboration program will revolve around conducting laboratory and field tests of novel gene functions and will focus on drought tolerance and nitrogen utilization optimization in key crops such as corn and soybean. ARRI will work closely with Syngenta’s new biotech research and technology center in Beijing which was opened in October last year.
“This collaboration will accelerate our research and increase our efficiency and competitiveness,” said Xun Wang, Head of Syngenta Biotechnology China. “ARRI has strong expertise and experience in genetics, breeding and field experiments.”
According to Syngenta, the base crop for the program will be rice, which is highly suited for gene research. It is a well-characterized crop regarding genetic, molecular and agronomic information and its genome is closely related to those of major crops such as corn. The relatively short growing cycle of rice will also allow more testing to be completed in a shorter time frame.
The agreement expands on Syngenta’s existing collaborations with China. In 2007, the company entered into a five-year research collaboration with the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) in Beijing on the development of novel agronomic traits for key crops such as corn, soybean, wheat, sugar beet and sugar cane.
Founded in 1987, ARRI is a leading institute in rice research and technology innovation in Anhui Province in China. Since its establishment, ARRI has undertaken many key projects such as with the United Nations Development Programme and the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation.
Formed in 2000 from the merger of Novartis and AstraZeneca’s agri-businesses units, Syngenta is one of the world’s leading companies in this field with more than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries.
