AT SEVEN metres long, seven tonnes in weight, and requiring a dedicated building to house it, the new Syngenta formulation robot has kicked into gear at the Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre in the UK.
It will be used by Syngenta Formulation Chemists across the globe and is the culmination of a five-year project bringing together scientists, engineers and software specialists.
The robot can make almost any liquid agrochemical formation in small amounts, and perform a basic series of tests to see if those formulations are of interest for further research.
Hailed as a breakthrough in innovation and speed of delivery, the robot will formulate and test hundreds of potential crop protection products each day.
It can do this at speeds that bench scientists can only dream of, helping those same scientists to be more innovative and productive when creating new products.
The robot is the latest part of an additional £35 million investment (equivalent to over $62 million Australian dollars) in Jealott’s Hill, Europe’s largest agricultural research and development centre.
Princess Anne, daughter of the Queen, recently visited Jealott’s Hill to officially launch the new robot and help it carry out its first experiments.
Syngenta’s Head of Formulation – Europe, David Sadler, spoke about this robotic innovation leap.
“It’s one of the biggest step-changes in formulation innovation I’ve seen in 25 years. And it comes at a time when complex mixtures are more and more important to our business and our farmer customers,” he said.
Jealott’s Hill site head, Mike Bushell, said: “This is a major investment in crop protection technology that will greatly speed up our development program to bring products to market and enhance our ability to feed a global population growing at 100 million a year.”
According to Andrew Aubert, Syngenta Development Manager – Australasia, bringing a new crop protection product to market in Australia can take up to 10 years, or even longer.
“Hundreds of thousands of new compounds are screened by Syngenta’s scientists each year, but from these only a small handful will ever reach the final stages of product development,” he said.
“For every new product introduced to Australia, there are about 100,000 compounds that do not make it.
“In addition to our high throughput screening techniques, like those used in the pharmaceutical industry, this new formulation robot will increase our ‘hit’ rate.
Footnote: Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre is at the heart of the global food supply chain. 800 people work on the site which concentrates on herbicide development but is also the main chemistry discovery site for the company. Without crop protection products such as herbicides, 40 percent of the world’s food would be lost to pests, diseases or weeds.
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