2022 Crop Science Awards celebrate ag tech and leadership

This year marked the 15th annual installment of the Crop Science Forum and Awards, an annual event that recognizes excellence in the crop protection and production markets. Formerly known as the Agrow Awards, the annual awards celebrate the best-in-class scientific, technological, and leadership initiatives.

Recognizing excellence in crop protection and digital agricultural industries worldwide, there are 12 award categories:

• Best R&D Pipeline
• Best Industry Collaboration
• Best New Crop Protection Product or Trait
• Best Stewardship Program
• Best New Biological Product (Biopesticide)
• Best Public Outreach Program
• Best New Biological Product (Biostimulant)
• Best Marketing Campaign
• Best Formulation Innovation
• Best Supporting Role
• Best Innovation in Digital Farming Technology
• Lifetime Achievement

A formal announcement has not be made about the full list of award winners, but AGDAILY has learned of more than half of the awards given. The are listed below:

This year, Syngenta was recognized as a winner in five award categories

Best R&D Pipeline

Syngenta invests significantly in its innovation capabilities and through many collaborations, brings world-class science and cutting-edge technologies to growers in the years to come. This sustained annual R&D investment has resulted in novel technologies that will enable growers to farm more sustainably and productively while protecting and enhancing crop and soil health. One such example is TYMIRIUM technology which protects the farm’s soil health and biodiversity even as it controls harmful microscopic nematodes that feed on plant roots.

Best New Crop Protection Product or Trait

VIRANTRA is the product containing PLINAZOLIN technology active ingredient launched in Argentina in December 2021. PLINAZOLIN technology allows farmers to effectively control insect pressure over a wide range of crops and geographies while addressing the urgent threat of rising resistance to existing insecticides.

Best Stewardship Program

Our Manejo Consciente campaign was introduced to address the first signs of fungicide resistance in soybean rust in Brazil. This ambitious stewardship campaign involved one-to-one meetings with more than 2,400 growers spanning an area of over 850,000 km, based on a new product positioning and agronomic recommendations. It achieved adoption rates of more than 73 percent, playing a significant role in delaying the spread of fungicide resistance.

Best Marketing Program

After ALADE and MITRION were registered for soybean disease control in Brazil in 2021 on an accelerated timeline, despite challenges brought on by pandemic restrictions, Syngenta conducted 1,900 certified trials with farmers and researchers, which provided invaluable data and opportunities to promote the benefits of these two products. This campaign reached soybean growers across the entire country, and it emerged as one of the largest demand generation campaigns in recent times.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Jon Parr recently retired as President of Crop Protection, after a distinguished 35-year career that included many highlights. These ranged from the launch of Sygenta’s fungicide AMISTAR two decades ago, to more recently setting the strategic direction that strengthened Syngenta’s innovation capabilities and propelled its leadership in biologicals. Key to his success as a leader was his ability to foster a winning culture and continuously challenged the organization to keep focus on the farmer’s needs; he encouraged collaboration, innovation, empowerment and strongly valued diverse teams.

BASF won Crop Science Awards in two categories



Best Industry Collaboration: Joint award together with Corteva Agriscience and M.S. Technologies L.L.C.

Together with Corteva Agriscience and MS Technologies, BASF won in the Best Industry Collaboration category. In June 2022, the companies announced the execution of a mutually beneficial trait licensing agreement to develop an industry first-of-its-kind soybean trait stack. BASF licensed its nematode resistant soybean (NRS) trait to Corteva and MS Technologies for use in Enlist E3 soybeans. In turn, Corteva and MS Technologies licensed the Enlist E3 soybean trait to BASF for development with the NRS trait in BASF germplasm.

Best Public Outreach Program: Campaign “Farming, The Biggest Job On Earth” awarded

In the Best Public Outreach Program category S&P Global recognized “Farming, The Biggest Job on Earth”, BASF’s advocacy campaign for farmers and farming relaunched in May 2021. Since then, the campaign took a stand to support farmers across the globe and grew greater understanding of Farming. BASF’s podcast series “The Science Behind your Salad” was a finalist in the same category.

This article will be updated with more award winners as they are announced.