Syngenta calls for greater international collaboration to address food security challenge

Basel, Switzerland, At today’s Annual General Meeting, Syngenta Chairman Martin Taylor and CEO Mike Mack highlighted the key global challenge of ensuring food security for a rapidly growing world population. To help address this critical challenge, they called for greater international collaboration and more coherent trade and regulatory policies that support farmers in producing sufficient, affordable food and, at the same time, help conserve the planet’s limited natural resources.

“Innovation in agriculture has made an enormous contribution towards our ability to ensure food security for a world population that has tripled in the last 50 years. But population growth continues unabated and 9 billion people will populate our planet by 2050,” said Martin Taylor. “Whilst further land is still available to be cultivated, doing so would reduce biodiversity and further deplete our natural resources, resources that are already under pressure. We need to grow more food from existing resources, and as those resources are diminishing, we actually need to grow more from less.”

“This critical challenge of ensuring food security in the face of the continuing growth in demand coupled with the scarcity of natural resources means that the role of technology in agriculture has never been more important,” said Mike Mack. “At Syngenta, our contribution is to develop innovations that help to unlock the full potential of plants. The immensity of the food security challenge can only be addressed through a new form of international collaboration and a coherent policy framework that stimulates innovation and puts the right technology in the hands of growers worldwide.”

Syngenta is one of the world’s leading companies with more than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.

For AGM speeches and photos please visit: www.syngenta.com/agm2009.

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