![Donna Schreurs, Middle Tarwin, in Victorias Gippsland, with Anna Sutton, Syngenta, Sydney, Chad Harper and 2020 growth awards winner, Alex Thomas, both from Nairn, South Australia at the 2023 Syngenta Growth Awards in Sydney. Donna Schreurs, Middle Tarwin, in Victorias Gippsland, with Anna Sutton, Syngenta, Sydney, Chad Harper and 2020 growth awards winner, Alex Thomas, both from Nairn, South Australia at the 2023 Syngenta Growth Awards in Sydney.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/32XghFRykTWK8psrWNhdBMC/47f3b888-5ba3-4ac4-a5d2-c9509a6f3817.JPG/r360_0_4277_2498_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Some of the agriculture's long established achievers and innovative newcomers who have notched up remarkable productivity, stewardship and community wins were recognised at this week's Syngenta Growth Awards.
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A Sydney gala dinner involved about 90 Australian and New Zealand farmers, advisors, regional community achievers, plus representatives from Syngenta's agribusiness network and other farm sector business and organisation leaders.
As Swiss-based global marketing head of Syngenta's crop protection, Ioana Tudor, told the dinner, the food production and farmland sustainability responsibilities faced by farmers and their support services could hardly be greater.
By 2050 the world's urban population will equal the current total human population on the planet.
"And we can't feed all those people by chopping down the world's forests to grow more crops." she said.
The world needed those forests as much as it needed innovative and astute farmers growing food sustainably and combatting climate change.
The growth awards dinner, returning after a COVID pandemic-enforced intermission, shine a light on the contribution and influence that growers, farm advisers and community leaders in Australia and NZ have made across the farm sector.
Winners are selected from four categories: Productivity, Sustainability, Community and People, and Innovator, with two judges' choice awards recognising outstanding individual achievements.