The agreement will help expand communication between the two organisations, enabling Syngenta to better understand the mango industry and develop the products and solutions that will help growers improve orchard management and fruit quality in a sustainable way.
“We’re very excited to have formalised our relationship with Syngenta, which has the ability to make a real difference to the productivity of mango growers. The agreement will give us the opportunity to provide regular feedback to Syngenta in a structured way. That information will hopefully allow Syngenta to ensure they’re focusing their resources on finding the solutions that will provide the most immediate benefit to mango growers,” said AMIA’s Chairman, Peter Delis.
The first example of benefits for growers came last year when growers needed a strong fungicide to combat post harvest diseases. Syngenta Territory Manager, Charissa Rixon, worked closely with AMIA to make Syngenta’s SCHOLAR® fungicide available to mango growers.
“Growers were facing a tough season last year and without SCHOLAR, many growers would have had a real challenge in effectively controlling some post harvest diseases,” said AMIA’s Industry Development Manager, Trevor Dunmall.
SCHOLAR is a post harvest fungicide that prevents diseases such as Anthracnose, Stem End Rot and Dendritic Spot from affecting mangoes. It is also the only product currently able to control Dendritic Spot and Stem End Rot, making it one of the most broad-spectrum fungicides ever developed for post harvest use.
“SCHOLAR offers a far greater level of control of these diseases than any other product because its chemistry is very different from any fungicide ever used post harvest on mangoes,” said Charissa. “It greatly extends the mangoes’ shelf life and has an excellent safety profile.
“I think this partnership between our two organisations, and the solutions that it will deliver, will help mango growers produce a more marketable fruit with less fruit breakdown due to stem-end rot and anthracnose, which in the long term will ensure the industry’s profitability.”
The formal agreement will include a structured program of scheduled meetings including quarterly reviews.
For Syngenta, the new relationship is a natural extension of its efforts to more clearly understand the needs of growers.
“We have a very strong grower focus and this collaboration will help us get more of an insight into what challenges mango growers are facing and how those challenges affect them,” explained Syngenta’s Viticulture and Fruit Crops Marketing Manager, Craig Thompson.
“We’ve had an informal working relationship with AMIA for a number of years now and formalising that relationship will give us a stronger and more regular dialogue not just with the association but also with individual growers. We’ll spend more time supporting field days and undertaking specialised research that will result in new solutions becoming available.”
Craig believes growers will reap the benefits of the agreement.
“Growers caught a glimpse of the benefits of our relationship last year when we worked together to make SCHOLAR available to them,” he said. “This arrangement means those projects will continue to happen and growers will also gain more access to our technical knowledge and support through AMIA. They will see new solutions coming for other challenges over time.”
“Working together to enable mango growers to use SCHOLAR has been the highlight of our collaboration with Syngenta so far and we hope that many more positive results will come from this relationship,” said Trevor.
Syngenta’s Craig Thompson agrees and says working with industry bodies like AMIA is one of the best ways to ensure growers’ emerging challenges are addressed.
“People working in the field already know what growers need, but now we can start talking to each other more regularly and at a higher level to make sure we’re working on the issues that matter instead of hoping someone else gets started on it,” said Trevor. “We can sit down with Syngenta and tell them what we need. We’ve always had a very honest and open relationship with frank exchanges of ideas and we know that will only continue to improve as time goes by.”
Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 26,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to the purpose of Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to customers, Syngenta helps to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information visit www.syngenta.com.au.
Caption: (L-R) Syngenta Viticulture and Fruit Crops Marketing Manager, Craig Thompson with AMIA Chairman, Peter Delis, and AMIA Industry Development Manager, Trevor Dunmall.