On 22 February, the Central Government of China released Document No. 1 of 2022. This is the 19th Document No. 1 issued by the Central Government to guide government work relating to the issues of agriculture, farmer and rural area in the 21st century. Spring is a season for land preparation and crop planting. Syngenta Group China is stepping up its efforts on all fronts, including seedling and fertilizer production, allocation of agricultural resources, and inspection and repair of agricultural machines, to support farmers planting crops in spring and achieve the goal of 1.3 trillion jin (650 billion kilograms) of grain output this year.

Seeds and seedlings

In early spring, there is a lot of hustle and bustle at the Seeds and Seedlings Centre of China National Seed Group in Sanya, Hainan. In mid-November last year, the seeds and seedlings team arrived in Sanya to start seed selection and seedling production. So far, it has successfully completed all tasks according to plan. Since beginning of the year, 11 rice breeding teams assembled at the centre and transplanted rice seedlings in an orderly manner. The genotyping team of the Technology Platform Department of the Life Science and Technology Centre of the Group has been carrying out genetic testing, including testing of the gene that leads to enhanced cadmium resistance on tens of thousands of samples sent by the Southern Centre for Seeds and Seedlings, and helping breeding experts select satisfactory seeds, to provide important technical support for subsequent breeding activities.

The corn seed business unit has actively cooperated with fertilizer and pesticide producers. The Northeast Region has worked closely with the crop nutrition and crop protection business units and Heilongjiang Beidahuang Agricultural Company Limited, introducing the main products of other units of the company. It ships sales orders from the closest warehouse and utilizes multiple channels to help customers save money and improve efficiency. Xinjiang Region has introduced excellent crop growth regulator products from the crop protection business unit to solve the tough issue in corn planting in Xinjiang. The Northwest Region organized an online training class to introduce the ways to identify and control pests and diseases, the techniques of fertilizer application in corn fields and the high-yield farming techniques, thereby helping farmers increase production and income.

The Qingdao Vegetable Factory of Syngenta Group China’s seed business unit is responsible for quality control and processing of seeds and timely delivery of safe and high-quality seeds to farmers. Since the resumption of work after the Spring Festival holiday, the Qingdao Vegetable Factory has shipped about 32 tons of sweet corn and made every effort to ensure that the delivery is completed on the same day of the receipt of the delivery order.

Crop Protection and Nutrition

Since the beginning of the year, the crop protection industry has been making every effort to prepare for this spring planting season. The crop protection business unit of Syngenta Group China worked with logistics and production departments to boost production capacity and ensure stable supply of high-quality crop protection products, while taking effective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. During the spring planting season, the R&D team of Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical Co., Ltd. worked around the clock to overcome various challenges, timely update data, and ensure the research and development of new crop protection products progresses according to plan.

Recently, the personnel of the Henan fertilizer division of Syngenta Group China’s crop nutrition business unit visited dealers to get a handle on the demand of farm supplies during the spring planting season and deployed agricultural resources most urgently needed by farmers.

Shandong team and local agricultural school jointly held a meeting to discuss the launch of a special action to scientifically improve seedlings. They sent experts to the fields to teach farmers techniques relating to production and management of wheat and identification and prevention of diseases and pests. Personnel from the Hebei visited the fertilizer production factory to inspect products, and assisted customers in the distribution of fertilizers. Their thoughtful services have given farmers peace of mind when they are busy preparing for spring planting. Since January, personal from the South China Region have visited 389 towns and townships to ensure farmers’ demand for agricultural resources during the spring planting season will be fully met. The Jiangsu and Anhui teams organized spring planting skills training events to help new employees familiarize themselves with work procedures and product knowledge as soon as possible so they will work efficiently during this spring planting season.

MAP Plays a Big Role in Promoting Smart Farming

Since beginning of the spring planting season, the Zhongning agricultural service teams from grain crop division of the Modern Agriculture Platform (MAP)’s in Ningxia province have been providing farmers with technical guidance on fertilizer application based on soil test results. The Zhongning team had started the preparation of agricultural resources before the Spring Festival, ensuring sufficient supplies to meet the crop planting needs over 100,000 mu of land.

On the first day after the Spring Festival, all workers of the MAP’s grain crop division in Jilin and Inner Mongolia returned to work. They have been working hard to expand the customer base. Well-known team building and management lecturers have been invited to help the team improve work methods and capabilities so the team can provide better services for customers during the spring planting season.

In early February, wheat entered the “greening up” phase. The Funan Technical Service Centre of the MAP’s grain crop division in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces sent agricultural experts to carry out high-frequency field inspections of 600,000 mu of high-quality wheat fields and provide farmers with precise technical guidance and solutions according to the actual field conditions. The MAP’s grain crop division in Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces has set up the North Anhui team at the Funan Centre to organize high-density technical training events for local growers to help them improve farming skills.

The spring planting season is very important for attaining the country’s grain output target and national food security. All business units of Syngenta Group China have done a good job in the spring planting season, laying a solid foundation for a bumper harvest by the country this year.