Syngenta Seed engaged in the breeding and the commercialization of wheat seed which it markets under the brand name SENSAKO. Our vision is to help optimize cereal production and profitability for the benefit of cereal producers and processors alike. Our wheat breeding team comprises 60% of the senior wheat breeders in South Africa and with over 100 years of combined experience is the most experien
ced in the country. Together, they have produced 75% of the most recent provisional or final wheat cultivar releases for the country. SENSAKO wheat cultivars also account for approximately 80% of all wheat grown in South Africa. A key component to the groups' success are the excellent relationships with other international wheat breeding programs from where new and valuable germplasm has and will continue to be sourced. The SENSAKO breeding strategy, known as modified pedigree selection, incorporates key breeding technologies which, coupled with the use of molecular marker selection and high throughput quality analytics maximizes efficiency and productivity. The programs focus on producing wheat varieties for the key commodity and quality markets in South Africa, incorporating key agronomic characters such as increased yield, adaptability and consistency, straw length, milling and baking improvements and disease resistance. Sensako currently has 19 commercial cultivars and there are 9, 7 and 8 pre-commercial cultivars for the irrigation, Cape and winter breeding programs. The SENSAKO wheat breeding programs are operationally serviced from two sites. Bethlehem (Marne Research Farm) where the Analytics Laboratory, Irrigation & Winter wheat programs are based, and Napier in the Western Cape where the Doubled Haploid & Cape breeding programs are based. Syngenta Markets and sells their SENSAKO seed through various channels.
