Syngenta launches VIRESTINA™ Herbicide Technology

The new platform targets resistant grass weeds in soybean and cotton, addressing one of the most persistent productivity threats in global row-crop farming.

Switzerland: Syngenta announced on 7 April 2026 the global launch of VIRESTINA™ technology after Argentina became the first country to approve it. The company described it as the world’s first selective herbicide for controlling resistant grass weeds in soybean and cotton in nearly 40 years. That makes this more than a standard product launch: it is a response to one of the most commercially damaging problems in global agriculture, namely weed resistance. Syngenta said it plans to extend the technology to Brazil, Australia, the United States and Canada, highlighting its broad market ambition. The product’s value proposition is tied not only to efficacy, but also to cropping flexibility, a lower environmental footprint and fewer machinery passes, all of which matter to growers seeking better economics and more resilient production systems.

“At Syngenta, our innovations have an important role in enabling growers to address some of the biggest challenges they face,” said Ioana Tudor, Syngenta’s Global Head of Crop Protection Marketing. “VIRESTINA™ technology demonstrates Syngenta’s ability to foresee a challenge a decade earlier, to accelerate our research and development timeline and successfully deliver an innovation that is timely in meeting growers’ needs. We are very proud of our industry-leading innovation pipeline.”