Where Innovation Shines! Seedcare at the Worldseed Congress in Brisbane
The Syngenta Seedcare team never miss an opportunity to showcase their latest innovations and connect with customers. We spoke to Anja Pires, Global Head of the Seedcare Institute Network, who was excited to go to Brisbane and learn more about Australia's agriculture.
Despite having lived in Asia for some years, this was my first trip to Australia. Even though I only saw a very small glimpse of it, it's clear to me that this country should be on every traveler’s bucket list.
The great hospitality of the people Down Under, the mix of state-of-the art infrastructure with stunning nature and wildlife is fascinating.
What is Brisbane like and did you get to see more of the country?
Brisbane is a very modern city of 2.4 million inhabitants in the state of Queensland. It’s Australia’s 3rd largest city after Sydney and Melbourne. It was easy to get around on foot, take the ferry across the river or travel by public transport. The ISF was located at the Congress Center on a former World Expo site, right by the river banks, where you could take a look at the downtown area.
After ISF I had the pleasure of visiting one of our most important customers in New South Wales, the state south of Queensland. We had to fly inland and it was absolutely fascinating to see how the climatic conditions changed dramatically from subtropical to temperate/grassland. Scarcity of water is a very hot topic there and the efforts that farmers have to go through to save and recollect water to grow their crops are immense.
What are your key takeaways from the ISF conference?
ISF is one of the major events for our Seedcare team where we have the chance to meet as many customers as possible within 4 days. It is a great and very efficient way to reconnect to large and small industry players, additive suppliers and seed associations across all crops. Besides the trade show where we and many others showcase innovations, there are also plenary presentations and seed industry committee meetings. These are either crop or seed-applied technology focused committees where crop or seed treatment matters are discussed. A major achievement at this ISF was the finalization of a seed industry statement that describes the need to keep and strengthen the movement of treated seed – a topic that is so relevant for the entire industry.
What did Seedcare present at ISF?
Seedcare launched its new brand SALTROTM and announced the opening of the 14th Seedcare Institute in Wagga Wagga later this year. The booth also displayed information on Australia’s agricultural zones and crops – valuable information that was not very well known by many visitors of our booth. We also promoted some new marketing tools like our newest augmented reality markers, touchscreen information about the Seedcare Institute Network or our brands, interactive walls and games to attract customers.
All this wouldn’t have been possible without the great teamwork between the local Australian and the global Seedcare teams.
But don’t forget, besides all the hard work we had a lot of fun together with our customers at our Seedcare evening. I definitely felt the Seedcare family feeling! Thank you team!
