- Award recognizes early-career individuals who show potential in seed industry
- Winner Qingli Liu has helped bring Asian Soybean Rust resistant seeds to market
- Liu acknowledged for strong leadership skills and resourcefulness
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Sept. 26, 2018 – Qingli Liu, Ph.D., principal scientist, Syngenta, has been recognized as the 2018 Future Giant of the Seed Industry. The esteemed award was presented by Seed World in partnership with the Future Seed Executives of the American Seed Trade Association to those who demonstrate potential to help shape the industry’s future.
As project lead for soybean and sunflower disease control at the Syngenta Innovation Center in Research Triangle Park, Liu spent the last five years developing broad resistance strategies that could provide new options to control disease, beyond fungicides.
Liu’s most significant achievement to date was discovering a method that allowed Syngenta to produce soybeans with tolerance to Asian Soybean Rust, a disease that costs farmers over $2 billion annually. The disease can cause up to 80 percent yield loss in Latin American fields, with potential for complete defoliation if left untreated. He is currently working to apply his methodology to other crops affected by major diseases.
“Qingli is an exemplary role model for his colleagues and peers – both at Syngenta and within the seed industry,” said Michiel van Lookeren Campagne Ph.D., head of global seeds research, Syngenta. “He is much more than a scientist; he is a connector and influencer who brings motivation to teams to go beyond what is expected – a true leader who can navigate the challenges inherent in seeds research and development.”
By building teams across disciplines within Syngenta, Liu has been able to implement new strategies faster and stay ahead of competitors. He has formed partnerships with university academic labs and private companies in order to expand his resources.
Liu was nominated for the honor by his supervisor, Joseph Watts, Ph.D., a Syngenta research scientist and senior team leader, for Liu’s ability to advance the trait discovery and development process so that the technology can be delivered into the market faster.
“It is rare to make a major scientific discovery, but it is even rarer to drive that discovery forward into a viable product to solve an unmet need in the world,” said Watts. “Qingli’s ability to bring technology from the lab into the field to conquer one of the world’s most intractable plant diseases in less than five years is evidence that he will be a Future Giant of the Seed Industry.”
Liu is featured in the Sept. issue of Seed World, available in print and online at https://seedworld.com/collaborative-efforts-lead-scientific-breakthroughs.
Join the conversation online – connect with Syngenta at Syngenta-us.com/social.
About Syngenta
Syngenta is a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. Through world class science and innovative crop solutions, our 28,000 people in over 90 countries are working to transform how crops are grown. We are committed to rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on X at www.twitter.com/Syngenta and www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS.
Media Contacts
Chris Tutino
919-226-7238
chris.tutino@syngenta.com
Cindy Whitt
919-870-5718
cwhitt@gscommunications.com
Web Resources
Know More, Grow More
Syngenta Newsroom
Syngenta U.S.
Thrive
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as ‘expect’, ‘would’, ‘will’, ‘potential’, ‘plans’, ‘prospects’, ‘estimated’, ‘aiming’, ‘on track’ and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.
©2018 Syngenta. 9 Davis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. The Syngenta logo is a registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.