Company History
Pre Syngenta
In its present form, Syngenta is a young company, founded in 2000. But it stems from an industrial tradition going back almost 250 years, when J.R. Geigy Ltd. began producing chemicals and dyes in Basel. In 1876, another Basel-based dyes factory was founded under the name Sandoz. Ciba was established some ten years later. Another half century afterwards, the merger of Brunner Mond Ltd, Nobel Industries, British Dyestuffs Coronation Ltd, and United Alkali Co. Ltd. formed Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in the United Kingdom. It was ICI that opened Syngenta’s Agricultural Research Station in Jealott’s Hill in 1928.
Almost at the same time, Geigy started the production of insecticides. Throughout the following 50 years, Geigy and ICI researchers independently made discoveries that paved the way for many of Syngenta’s present-day products. In 1971, Ciba and Geigy merged to form Ciba-Geigy Ltd, mostly known as just Ciba. Three years later, they acquired the US-based company Funk Seeds International in order to expand into the seeds business. Shortly after, Sandoz followed Ciba into the seeds market by attaining Rogers and Northrup King, two brands that still exist today under Syngenta Seeds, along with Sluis & Groot (S&G) of the Dutch Zaadunie group, which Sandoz acquired in 1980. In the same year, Ciba established a special biotechnology unit. In the UK, ICI joined the global seed market by establishing ICI Seeds in 1983.
Approximately ten years later, ICI emerged its Pharmaceuticals, Specialties and Agrochemicals businesses, the latest of which became Zeneca.
One of the largest corporate mergers in history took place in 1996, when Sandoz and Ciba formed Novartis, which one year later expanded its agricultural branch with the purchase of the crop protection business of Merck & Co. Inc. Concurrently, Zeneca offered the first genetically modified tomato variety to customers. In 1998, it acquired ISK Biosciences and merged with Astra AB of Sweden to create AstraZeneca in 1999.
On November 13, 2000 Novartis and AstraZeneca merged their agribusinesses to form Syngenta, the first global group focusing exclusively on agribusiness. Thus, Syngenta inherited the strengths and traditions of two excellent companies, both with a lengthy tradition of their own.
Bringing People Together
The name, Syngenta, has two distinct roots. "Syn-" stems from Greek. It reflects synergy and synthesis, integration, and consolidating strengths. "-genta" relates to humanity and individuals. It stems from the Latin "gens," for people or community. So Syngenta means "bringing people together."
Becoming the World’s largest Agribusiness
Ever since its formation, Syngenta has been committed to assisting its customers, farmers from all over the world, in their daily needs. On one hand, it has done so by developing and offering a broad range of innovative products. A first success in this content was the completion of the Rice Genome Map by researchers of the Torrey Mesa Research Institute (TMRI), the genomics research center of Syngenta in January of 2001. This groundbreaking discovery provided researchers with crucial new knowledge to improve food crops when Syngenta made the Rice Genome Map publicly available in 2002.
On the other hand, Syngenta has turned sustainable agriculture into its credo and launched the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture in 2001. The goal of the Syngenta Foundation was – and still is – to improve rural livelihoods in semiarid parts of the world in sustainable ways. It promotes innovative methods and technologies to help farmers increase their food production and make the best possible profit. Today, the foundation runs nine programs in the world’s poorer regions of South America, Africa and India, and contributes to improving farming in various related projects.
Sustainable Agriculture
Any farming practice inevitably has an effect on the environment, the social welfare and economic viability of the individuals involved and the rural community. Sustainable agriculture looks to develop practices that have a beneficial influence on any or all of these factors. This can happen by, for example, protecting and enhancing biodiversity, educating and training individuals in safe practices, providing higher yields of better quality crops at lower cost, or by protecting soil and water to reduce rural poverty and improving the quality of life. In many instances, these elements of sustainable agriculture are combined and have beneficial effects in more than one field.
In 2002, Syngenta extended its research capabilities by establishing a shared biotechnology research platform in collaboration with Diversa. At the time, the US-based company was a leader in applying proprietary genomic technologies for the discovery and optimization of novel products. After another important discovery in 2003 – the world’s first hybrid barley variety – Syngenta further expanded its businesses with a number of acquisitions and partnership agreements in 2004. First, it attained Dia-Engei, the Japanese leader in producing and marketing seedlings of flowering plants and vegetables; then one of the world’s leading seeds companies, Advanta BV, which Syngenta acquired together with Fox Paine, and finally Golden Harvest, in order to enhance the US corn and soybean business. Dulcinea Farms, LLC, a joint venture with Tanimura & Antle, was established to market fruit in the US, while an agreement with Delta and Pine Land amplified Syngenta’s potential in developing and commercializing novel biotechnology products for cotton. A herbicide agreement with Sumitomo Chemical of Japan in 2005 further strengthened Syngenta’s Crop Protection portfolio, and by forming a strategic alliance with COMPO in the same year, Syngenta entered the lawn and garden market.
In 2006, Syngenta acquired Emergent Genetics Vegetable A/S, an established Danish vegetable seed company, and expanded its lawn and garden business in North America with the purchase of Conrad Fafard, Inc., a leading producer of packaged growing media. Syngenta Flowers was complemented when the Fischer group was integrated in 2007, and the vegetable seeds branch was further enforced with the incorporation of Zeraim Gedera.
