The robot is the culmination of a five year project bringing together scientists, engineers and software specialists. The robot can make almost any liquid agrochemical formation in small amounts, and perform a basic series of tests to see if those formulations are of interest for further research.
The robot, which is unique in the agricultural sector, is a breakthrough in innovation and speed of delivery. It will formulate and test hundreds of potential crop protection products each day.
It can do this at speeds that bench scientists can only dream of, helping those same scientists to be more innovative and productive than ever before when creating new products.
The robot is the latest part of an additional £35 million investment (equivalent to over $62 million Australian dollars) in Jealott’s Hill, Europe’s largest agricultural research and development centre.
Princess Anne, daughter of the Queen, recently visited Jealott’s Hill to officially launch the new robot and help it carry out its first experiments.
The Princess spoke enthusiastically about the role played by science in feeding the growing global population and protecting biodiversity.
“What you do here is to ensure that food is grown safely and well, and understanding the biodiversity in which it grows. That needs a lot of skilled and talented people to ensure that what is done here is the best that science can provide,” she said.
David Sadler, Syngenta’s Head of Formulation – Europe, spoke about this robotic innovation leap.
“It’s one of the biggest step-changes in formulation innovation I’ve seen in 25 years. And it comes at a time when complex mixtures are more and more important to our business and our farmer customers,” he said.
“At the beginning of our projects we’ll be able to look broadly and innovatively at a very wide range of formulation options,” David explained.
“Closer to developing the final product we can optimise for costs and robustness. And should there be problems in the field we can bring it in and look at options to correct it really quickly.”
Jealott’s Hill site head, Mike Bushell, said, “This is a major investment in crop protection technology that will greatly speed up our development program to bring products to market and enhance our ability to feed a global population growing at 100 million a year.”
According to Andrew Aubert, Syngenta Development Manager – Australasia, bringing a new crop protection product to market in Australia can take up to 10 years, or even longer.
“Hundreds of thousands of new compounds are screened by Syngenta’s scientists each year, but from these only a small handful will ever reach the final stages of product development,” he said.
“For every new product introduced to Australia, there are about 100,000 compounds that do not make it."
“In addition to our high throughput screening techniques, like those used in the pharmaceutical industry, this new formulation robot will increase our ‘hit’ rate."
“Globally, Syngenta’s goal is to create value through innovative research and technology that raises productivity in an environmentally sustainable way,” Andrew explained.
“I’m looking forward to adding some of the Jealott’s Hill robot’s successes to our new product pipeline for Australia.”
Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre is at the heart of the global food supply chain. 800 people work on the site which concentrates on herbicide development but is also the main chemistry discovery site for the company. Without crop protection products such as herbicides, 40% of the world’s food would be lost to pests, diseases or weeds.
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To watch a video of the robot launch, visit:
http://www.syngenta.com/en/media/eventsandpresentations_royalvisit.html
High resolution pictures available on request.
Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 24,000 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.