Crop Protection Syngenta Canada has headquarters in Guelph, Ontario, with a western office in Calgary, Alberta, and research farms in Manitoba and Ontario. We employ approximately 250 full and part-time people and have been one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers as published in Maclean’s magazine.
To feed the world, we must learn to grow more food on less land so that we do not encroach on environmentally sensitive areas or convert more farmland. The only way to do this sustainably is by using modern technologies and products such as crop protection to maximize the harvest. The risks of doing nothing or of arbitrarily limiting pesticide use means less yield from the land.
Crop protection products keep crops safe from attack by insects, weeds and diseases. They also help us make better use of scarce resources such as land, water and labour. It is estimated that 40 per cent of the world’s food would not exist without crop protection products.
In fact, the need for effective and safe pest management will only increase as climate zones change and new invasive insects and weeds and disease issues emerge. Now more than ever, we need to invest in the science that will ensure we stay at the forefront of pest management and climate change.
Our formulation science ensures our products are effective at very low application rates. In Canada, pesticide products are only eligible for sale after an extensive scientific body of work has been reviewed and registered by Health Canada. Before any pesticide is allowed for use in Canada, Health Canada ensures there are no health or environmental concerns related to its use and that it has value.
Health Canada also regulates all products that make pesticidal claims used to protect organic produce. To date, there is no evidence to indicate that there is a health risk due to pesticide residues from the consumption of conventionally grown produce, or that organic foods are safer to consume than conventionally produced food.
Newer and more effective pesticides are the result of advanced science that has allowed us to increase food security and improve standards of living around the world; without them, crop losses would be higher and more land would need to be farmed.
Syngenta crop protection products
Fungicides protect plants from fungal diseases such as blight or mildew.
Herbicides remove weeds which compete with a farmer’s crops for important nutrients, light and water.
Insecticides control insect pests such as aphids that can kill a crop.
The benefits of our crop protection products
They are vital in producing crops of high quality with minimum wastage. In fact, 40% of the world’s food would not exist without crop protection products.
Since 1960, the production of major crops has more than doubled through the use of technology, including crop protection.
Crop protection products ensure food reaches the shops in good condition, but also extends the seasons for a wide range of produce.
They safeguard public health by controlling pests that spread disease to people and livestock or cause damage to homes and property.
Learn more about the benefits of pesticides