2023 Solutions event – Agcelerating innovation with Syngenta

Charlie Baxter is Global Head of Regulatory and Product Safety, Syngenta Seeds, responsible for leading a diverse group of scientists that deliver different aspects of Syngenta’s trait pipeline, from discovery to registration. Charlie also represents Syngenta in different industry association forums and is currently chair of Crop Life International’s Plant Biotechnology Strategy Council.

Charlie is based out of Syngenta’s RTP innovation center in N. Carolina, US. He is passionate about translating biotech and plant breeding based innovations into new seed varieties that support growers around the world.

Prior to his current position, Charlie spent 10 years working for Syngenta’s Vegetables seeds business in various roles in R&D. During this time he enjoyed developing native trait solutions for vegetable growers as well as participating in a number of public-private partnerships that advanced the genetic tools available to the plant breeding industry.

Charlie grew up in the UK, in a farming family where he gained his interest in agriculture through working on various arable operations. After completing a PhD at Sheffield University, UK, he was a research associate at the University of Oxford before joining Syngenta.

Jacki Davis is an experienced journalist, speaker and moderator of high-level events both in Brussels and in EU national capitals, the editor of many publications, a regular broadcaster on television and radio news programmes, and a Senior Adviser to the European Policy Centre think tank. Jacki has been based in Brussels for 21 years, and was previously Communications Director of the European Policy Centre think tank; Editor-in-Chief of E!Sharp magazine; and launch editor of European Voice, the Brussels-based weekly newspaper owned by The Economist. Jacki has moderated many conferences in Brussels and in EU Member States, and also has extensive experience in planning events. She can provide not only top-quality moderation of the event itself and ensure lively and highly interactive debates, but also advice and guidance on how to plan a successful event, how to frame the debate and brief speakers to deliver the desired outcomes etc.

Hans-Heinrich Grünhagen is a multi-faceted farmer, both a traditionalist and a trailblazer. He comes from a farming family that he can trace back 250 years, and grew up on his parents’ holding in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1991 he has also run a very modern, highly digitized 1,800-hectare farm in a small village in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. For 30 years he has been blending his farming heritage with innovation and experimentation to adapt to constant changes in agriculture. 

The Brandenburg farm business has gone from 90 hectares in 1991 to 1,800 today. Over 1,600 hectares are arable, including table potatoes for consumers, and for commercial customers starch potatoes, maize for biogas, winter rye, winter barley, rapeseed, peas, Jerusalem artichokes and hemp. Some 130 hectares are grassland, 180 forest. The business has one organic farm of 150 hectares, a second one is coming, and it is involved in contract farming. He and other landowners built a wind farm for the local community 20 years ago. 

Eva Haensel works as Sustainable Portfolio Development Head Crop Protection Development for Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Syngenta in Germany.

Eva works cross-functionally with teams from biology, product safety, various technology areas, data solutions, marketing, and others to further develop our portfolio in line with the requirements for innovative plant and soil health solutions to offer farmers nature-positive agricultural innovations.

After school, she did an apprenticeship in the pharmaceutical industry and came to crop protection rather by chance as she was fascinated by what can grow from a tiny little seed when conditions are favourable. She then started working at a farm, studied agronomy, and has since worked in a variety of fields, including professional lawn care, specialty crops like cocoa and coffee, or seed treatment of arable crops.

Mark is Head of Sustainable Farming for Syngenta's Europe, Africa & Middle East business. The Sustainable Farming Team work on measures to help growers use crop protection products in a more sustainable way than traditional techniques. The team also develops new sustainable farming offers and services, helping growers adopt more sustainable farming approaches through new technologies. Interra® Scan is the first soil health service introduced last year. Mark has worked for Syngenta for 15 years, mainly in marketing and business strategy roles. He has a background in agronomy and farm management. In 2020 he started a new farming business, MKH Farming, with his wife on a farm in Bedfordshire, UK. MKH Farming has grown since then to a 320 hectare arable cropping farm growing wheat, oats, beans and spring barley in a regenerative system.

Sarah Iveson is Head of Field Crops Seeds Development for Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) for Syngenta Seeds, responsible for leading a large group of scientists across germplasm development, R&D operations, product placement and agronomy to deliver new genetic solutions to farmers across Europe, Africa and Middle East.

She joined Syngenta as a formulation chemist in the UK. She relocated to Basel in 2011, where she has held various project, portfolio, and operational leadership roles in R&D across the crop protection and seeds businesses. Prior to her current role she led the commercial strategy and portfolio team for cereals with responsibility for defining the route to market of new technologies, including hybrid wheat.

Sarah has had a passion for science from a young age and graduated with a first hons degree in biochemistry from University of Lancaster, UK. She is driven by bringing new plant breeding innovations into the hands of growers and downstream partners, maximizing their genetic potential to enable sustainable crop production.

Alberto Piaggesi, Global Head of Biostimulant Research at Valagro, now part of Syngenta, is an experienced director of research and development with a solid working path in the chemical and agricultural industry and expertise in the biostimulants sector at a global level. He holds a PhD in Plant Physiology from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa.

Robert has worked all his 33-year career in Syngenta, starting as an environmental chemist in R&D, progressing through regulatory and marketing roles in the UK, Chile, Brazil, Italy and latterly as Managing Director of the Iberia (Spain & Portuguese) business before taking on his current role as Head of Business Sustainability for the EAME Region in Syngenta Crop Protection in January of this year. He has a thorough understanding of global agricultural trends & challenges and speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian fluently.

Robert is passionate about agriculture and working to ensure that farmers can sustainably produce the best quality food as well as providing stability for their families, communities & generations to come.

Robert lives in Madrid and is married with 2 children, his hobbies include reading, travel, food, wine & golf, as well as spending time with his family.

Riccardo is a manager with over 20 years of experience in several private companies and in the consulting sector. After a period at Accenture, where he specialised in business process and change management, he joined Syngenta in 2009, where he held various roles both in Italy and at HQ in Basel as Head of Business Development & Planning EAME. He returned to Italy in 2015 as Territory Marketing Head, then Crop Protection BU Head Italy and from 1 January 2023 as Biologicals Head EAME. Since May 2022 he has also been President of the National Crop Protection Association, Agrofarma.