Syngenta tomato vision

Added on 04 October 2024

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In January 2024, Professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel led 45 HBS MBA students on site visits to witness the energy transition and innovative sustainable production activities throughout Denmark and the Netherlands, in the second year of their Immersive Field Course (IFC). This is one of nine student essays that highlight their reflections.

“It’s a continuous race against the evolution of new pathogens. We as humans want to eat a lot, but so do insects, birds, viruses, etc. That’s where we come in.” - Syngenta Team, regarding developing tomatoes with resistance to the tomato brown rugose fruit virus.

Founded in 2000 from the merger of the agrichemical units of Novartis and AstraZeneca, Syngenta is a provider of a broad range of agricultural science and technology products focused on seeds and crop protection. They spend over $1.4B annually in R&D and have over 10,000 patents. We had an opportunity to visit Syngenta Tomato Vision, a 150,000 square foot greenhouse and demonstration center located in Maasland, the Netherlands. This facility opened in May 2020 and focuses on testing thousands of tomato varietal crossings every year.