BIOLOGICALS TECHNICAL MANAGER ROLE CREATED

With the growing importance of biological products to enhance the agronomy of professional turf management and production of ornamentals, Syngenta say they have created a new dedicated role of biologicals technical manager, to further develop the new technologies.

The company has appointed the experienced research scientist, Dr Hui (Eric) Chen, to support and develop the integration of biological products within the Syngenta Professional Solutions team across Europe, Africa & Middle East (EAME).

Eric graduated in crop and soil sciences from Beijing Forestry University in China, before continuing education and research at Michigan State and Rutgers University in the US. He gained his PhD in plant biology with emphasis on turfgrass management from Rutgers University.     

During his work in the US, Eric had also pioneered new techniques and published numerous research papers to enhance management of turfgrass stress due to biotic and abiotic factors.  

 Since moving to Europe and the UK, Eric has worked as a research scientist at STRI (formerly the Sports Turf Research Institute) at Bingley in Yorkshire. He has been involved with collaborative university and commercial businesses to instigate, trial and develop precision plant management tools and techniques.   

Commenting on his appointment, Eric said, “I admire Syngenta’s commitment to sustainability and constant striving to improve the ways that customers’ can successfully manage plants, through its ongoing investment in R&D.

“I believe my experience and perspective will help Syngenta to build its capabilities quickly and effectively in the biologicals arena, for both turf and ornamentals.”  

Syngenta Product Biology lead for Professional Solutions, Marcel Breedeveld, added, “Biological products undoubtedly have an increasingly important role in practical agronomic decisions. However, their use has to be based on robust and reliable science to enable effective integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. Eric’s skills and knowledge will ensure we can develop better and more sustainable long-term solutions for our customers over the coming seasons.”