(NAPSI)—According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most Americans of all ages consume too few fruits and vegetables¹, while the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that Americans fill half their plate with fruit and vegetables.

A focus on healthier lifestyles is having an impact, though. In 2016, for example, U.S. farmers sold $390 million worth of cauliflower, a significant increase from 2012² and a trend that can be attributed to the growing frequency with which cauliflower is showing up on menus and being used as a replacement for rice and potatoes.

Seed companies are doing their part to help increase vegetable consumption through plant breeding practices designed to help make vegetables tastier and more convenient to consume. Through breeding innovation, consumers enjoy flavorful tomatoes year-round, helping round out a healthy diet in any season. The consumption of just one medium tomato per day can help provide 40 percent of daily recommended vitamin C and 20 percent of recommended vitamin A³.

A combination of consumer research and a deep understanding of needs from field to fork, including those of growers, packers, shippers and retailers, helps seed companies to guide their plant breeding programs. Taste, for example, is a complex interaction between taste, smell, color and texture. Shelf life is another area where plant breeding can make a significant difference, developing varieties that stay fresher, longer.

For generations, Syngenta has been innovating to meet the needs of growers around the world.

In 2017, Syngenta celebrated 150 years in the vegetable seeds business. Sluis and Groot, a legacy company of Syngenta, was founded in 1867 in the Netherlands as exporters of cabbage seeds. Today, Syngenta is one of the world's leading vegetable seeds companies with 30 crop species and 2,500 varieties.

In the United States, Syngenta's history in the vegetable seeds industry is further enhanced by the strong legacy of ROGERS^® brand seed. The principles upheld by its founders years ago continue to inspire Syngenta today—produce superior vegetable seeds and invest in research and development to continually offer the best in the industry.

Syngenta vegetable seeds research and development is conducted at several sites in key production regions of the U.S. Trialing occurs throughout the year, allowing Syngenta to continually introduce innovative new varieties that fulfill grower needs and meet consumer demand for high-quality, tasty, nutritious vegetables every day of the year.

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