Syngenta has announced new actions in North America to transition its wheat breeding to developing hybrid varieties.

The next step is that Northern Seed, LLC will acquire Syngenta’s triticale program including the Vernon, Texas site. Triticale is a grain produced by cross-breeding wheat and rye, and grown primarily as animal feed.

“This transaction will concentrate resources on our work to commercialize hybrid wheat,” said Darcy Pawlik, cereal product lead for Syngenta in North America.

Syngenta is focusing its efforts in the primary wheat growing areas in North America which will lead to enabling further expansion.

“Syngenta has built a leadership position in North America wheat seeds as part of a strategy to maximize grower return,” Pawlick said.

“Now, the company will continue focused variety development with an orderly transition into hybrids. Building on the success of Hyvido barley in Europe, Syngenta recently achieved technical proof of concept in hybrid wheat and expects to commercialize by the end of the decade, with peak sales potential of more than $3 billion.”

The company will increase its investment and resources to develop hybrid wheat for major wheat market segments in North America. This will ensure transformational yield benefits to growers under the AgriPro cereals seed brand which Syngenta calls the North American leader in branded wheat.

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“So far, our investments have enabled us to surpass a targeted 10-percent yield increase for our first generation of hybrid wheat lines,” said Pawlik.

“Although we still have a great deal to learn about how to optimize growth, agronomic characteristics, and grain yield, we are confident hybrid wheat will provide a new level of yield potential and profitability for growers and our channel.”

More information - www.syngenta.com