By Janet Kanters

Syngenta Canada has expanded the mandate of its Canadian Seedcare Institute to include biological products, marking a new focus for the research and training facility after a decade of seed treatment work.

The company launched the Canadian Seedcare & Biologicals Institute (SCBI) Sept. 16 at its Honeywood Research Facility in Plattsville, Ont., coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the site’s opening as the Canadian Seedcare Institute.

The expanded institute will work with biological products alongside established seed treatment technologies. Its work will support Canadian crops including canola, cereals, corn, potatoes, pulses and soybeans, with an emphasis on how products perform under local growing conditions.

The SCBI is part of Syngenta’s global network of more than 120 specialists working across 22 centres of excellence. In Canada, the team works with growers, retailers, seed companies and commercial seed treaters to connect product development and research with practical application.

Syngenta defines biologicals in this context as products such as biostimulants, biocontrols and nitrogen-use-efficiency products intended to complement conventional crop inputs. At the Canadian institute, staff will evaluate formulations and application practices and provide training on their use.

“The SCBI will test formulations and application practices, while also serving as a training platform to help customers apply these technologies to maximize their impact on farm,” said Scott Ewert, head, Seedcare and Biologicals, Canada.

The institute’s activities are organized around three areas: agronomy, application and assurance. Together, these areas address crop and field conditions, product application and performance testing from laboratory work through field use.

Michelle Wall, head, Canadian Seedcare & Biologicals Institute and Seedcare technical lead for Eastern Canada, said the company’s role is to put solutions through the right testing “and bring practical expertise to every product under Canadian conditions, so growers and our value-chain partners can make decisions with confidence.”

The Honeywood facility has been used for agricultural research since 1975, when a Syngenta Canada legacy company established operations at the site. The 100-acre property dates to the 1890s and takes its name from the Honeywood silt loam soil found there.

Today, the facility brings together expertise in plant pathology, seed treatment, biology, formulation and application technology. The expanded mandate adds biologicals to that research and technical support capacity for the Canadian market.

Syngenta’s global Seedcare & Biologicals Institute headquarters are in Stein, Switzerland. The company also operates institutes in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States and Zambia.