One of the long-time senior identities in Australian agribusiness, Syngenta's Paul Luxton is suddenly on the move to Thailand as the crop protection and seed company's new Asia head.
Mr Luxton's new role starts in just over a week, on January 1, ending 15 years at the helm of the company's operations in Australia and New Zealand.
He will be replaced in the Sydney office by David Van Ryswyk who currently leads Syngenta's professional solutions business in Australia and NZ, and its newly acquired forestry herbicide services company, Macspread.
Mr Van Ryswyk, originally from a dairy farming background in Victoria, has also worked at the global head office in Basel, Switzerland, and has had extensive experience with the business.
Syngenta is arguably the world's biggest agribusiness, created by the 2000 merger of Swiss agrichemical business, Novartis, with British-based AstraZeneca, which in turn had grown out of the prominent chemical business, ICI.
Since 2017 Syngenta has been part of the Chinese state-owned ChemChina conglomerate, which also includes former Israeli crop chemical business Adama.
Mr Luxton's new job was unofficially flagged to staff in early December, but only just announced officially.
The change of role was not even on his radar until a month ago.
He will be responsible for Syngenta's operations and development across fast growing Asian region markets in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea.
Mr Luxton is originally from a horticultural farming background in NZ where his university training was in botany and plant biology.
He graduated to regional and national farm services roles in the NZ market, including with Syngenta.
He is the current CropLife Australia president and serves on the boards of Syngenta Australia, Wee Waa-based crop supplies business, Cotton Growers Services, which operates in NSW, Queensland and Northern Territory, and South Australian-based Longreach Plant Breeders, which has research operations in SA, NSW and Queensland.
An official statement from Syngenta noted Mr Luxton had a wealth of experience and a proven track record in agricultural leadership and expressed its gratitude for his outstanding contributions while in his trans-Tasman position.
"Paul's tenure at Syngenta ANZ has been marked by significant achievements and contributions to the company's success in the region," it said.
Mr Luxton believed the agricultural landscape in Asia presented many opportunities.
"I am eager to work with our dedicated teams to further strengthen Syngenta's presence in this crucial market and honoured and excited to take on this new role as head of Asia," he said.
Head of Syngenta's crop protection marketing business in Australia and Japan, Ioana Tudor, was confident his successor, Mr Van Ryswyk, would build upon the strong foundation laid by Mr Luxton, continuing to "drive excellence in our operations within the region".
"David brings a wealth of experience and knowledge having worked with Syngenta customers across the business for nearly 20 years," she said.
"With a strong commitment to prioritising customer needs and a bold approach to innovation, he will lead the ANZ business to new heights."
Mr Van Ryswyk, a rural science graduate with an agriculture teaching diploma from the University of New England, joined Syngenta in 2004.
He has worked in areas of the business ranging from customer services and demand management, to leading demand planning excellence Basel.
He grew up in South Gippsland and has plenty of first hand experience and knowledge of issues important to farmers today.
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
