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## Sharing knowledge 

Our technologies deliver many benefits. But the rate of uptake depends on sharing knowledge so that farmers understand the benefits and use the technology correctly. 

In many countries, tomorrow’s farmers need better, more relevant education. One of the challenges of supplying global markets is to enable growers to develop the knowledge needed to run a profitable, productive and quality-oriented farm. Agricultural extension services are crucial to sharing such knowledge, but are lacking in many countries today. Syngenta plays a part in closing this knowledge gap as well as training farmers to use its products safely and efficiently. 

## Reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint 

Farming makes extensive use of natural resources. It uses 40 percent 1  of the world’s land and 70 percent 2  of its fresh water withdrawal. With both in increasingly high demand, it must become more resource efficient. Agriculture relies on biodiversity for crop pollination, healthy soils and water, and air purification. So farmers’ needs are closely linked to the protection of biodiversity and the avoidance of further expansion. 

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To support more efficient use of basic natural resources, we are developing sustainable technologies that protect the long-term economic and environmental viability of farming. Extension services and training through retailers enable farmers to see the benefits of these technologies. They also need to be able to afford them, through access to credit and risk-management mechanisms such as insurance for weather- related crop losses. 

From the earliest phases of our research processes we include measures for efficacy, economic benefit, and human and environmental safety. For every crop protection product that reaches the farmer’s field, almost 100,000 3  are tested but discarded because they do not meet efficacy or safety standards. 

We are developing new metrics that assess the full impact of products and technologies, so that we can ensure they deliver benefit without harm. This means viewing farming practices holistically, rather than focusing narrowly on the properties of a single product, to assess their overall resource efficiency. 

As crops are traded around the world, so are the inherent natural resources that produced them: energy, soil and water. With increasing natural resource constraints, trade is the first and most efficient mechanism for sharing natural resources as well as simply meeting food demand. 

1  FAOSTAT faostat.fao.org 

2  FAO AQUASTAT, 2005, World Resource and Earthscan “Water for food, water for life” Institute 

3  CropLife International www.croplife.org 

## Sustainable agriculture in Tanzania 

With the new rice protocol, I can control weeds much better. And I can increase my yield and still look after the environment. 

## RamadhaniRajabuUpole Rice grower 

Dihombo, Tanzania 

More online www.syngenta.com/ar2011 

