Syngenta Highlights Five Agricultural Innovation Pathways Ahead of COP30

Agricultural technology company Syngenta Group outlined five innovation pathways it considers critical for making agriculture a net contributor to climate solutions ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil. The company warned that global agricultural productivity must accelerate to 2% annual growth between 2024 and 2050, from a current pace of just 0.76%, to meet food security demands without expanding into native ecosystems.

Agriculture accounts for 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to the IPCC, and nearly 40% of Earth's landmass is already under food production. Syngenta's five proposed solution areas include: revitalizing degraded land through soil restoration and sustainable farming practices; advancing climate-resilient crop varieties; increasing productivity with biologicals and precision agriculture inputs; scaling precision application of crop protection products; and promoting regenerative practices such as cover crops and minimal tillage to build soil carbon. In Brazil, the company's REVERTE program targets the recovery of one million hectares of degraded land, working with The Nature Conservancy in the Cerrado biome.

A Deloitte study highlighted by Syngenta finds that 50% of the needed improvement in food supply and 40% of additional calories required by 2050 must come from accelerated innovation, productivity improvements, and technology adoption. The convergence of agricultural innovation with climate action is increasingly central to international policy discussions, with the Food and Agriculture Organization preparing a new roadmap to be unveiled at COP30. For India, which faces simultaneous pressure to improve agricultural productivity, reduce water use, and cut farming-sector emissions, the multi-solution approach outlined by Syngenta is directly applicable.

At COP30 on November 11, 2025, Syngenta will co-host a senior expert panel with The Economist on sustainable farming economics, featuring panelists including Brazil's former Environment Minister and representatives of The Nature Conservancy and Itaú Bank. The company employs over 56,000 people across more than 90 countries and operates through four business units: Syngenta Crop Protection, Syngenta Seeds, ADAMA, and Syngenta Group China. India is among the most important markets for agricultural productivity improvement given the scale of its farming sector and the climate vulnerability of its major growing regions.

Key figure — 0.76% global agricultural productivity growth in 2025 vs 2% needed annually through 2050