Syngenta crop protection plan to pay out record R52 million this year.
MEDIA RELEASE
Syngenta crop protection plan to pay out record R52 million this year
Syngenta, South Africa’s Smart Farming pioneer, will pay out a record R52 million this year to all qualifying maize growers covered by its AgriSafe financial risk mitigation plan for crop protection. This highlights how its SmartFarm strategy is helping farmers to optimise profitability and protect their businesses against the backdrop of climate change and economic volatility.
AgriSafe is an input cost protection plan that removes some of the uncertainty caused by currency fluctuations, inflation and volatile commodity prices from farmers’ day-to-day operations. Launched in 2012, AgriSafe protects the value of growers’ Syngenta product purchases, as expressed in tons and with a set futures price.
Says Linda van der Merwe, Head of Customer Marketing at Syngenta South Africa: “Our substantial pay-out for this season highlights our commitment to help growers insure themselves against the uncontrollable and the unforeseeable. With its no-cost, no-risk strategy, AgriSafe is a cornerstone of our SmartFarm strategy and our commitment to instilling a mind-set of smart choices and thinking in South African agriculture.”
AgriSafe hedges the value of the grower’s Syngenta account, translated to a ton equivalent on the SAFEX (South Africa Futures Exchanges) market, and without any cost or risk to the farmer. In this way, the grower is protected from a possible price slump, as well as with the unlimited advantage of a possible rise in price and with no responsibility to deliver crop.
A grower must show intent to purchase a Syngenta crop protection programme at the beginning of the season. Syngenta secures the cover on the SAFEX futures market at no cost or risk to the grower. Should there be a shortfall between the fixed AgriSafe price and the SAFEX delivery price, the difference is paid to the grower.
While this year’s payout is the highest recorded since the launch of AgriSafe in 2012, we are proud to support a bigger number of emerging growers who have purchased their products through Syngenta. Not only has the Syngenta programme put them in a position of optimised yield, but at the same time mitigated their risk in this very challenging economic environment
“We wish all our growers a successful harvesting season and thank them for adopting a Smart Farm approach. We trust this is to their benefit, given the current financial and economic outlook in South Africa,” says Antonie Delport, managing director for Syngenta South Africa.
