New appointments accompany leadership transition, with Paul Luxton of Syngenta assuming presidency
CropLife Asia, the regional association representing the plant science industry, today announced the appointment of three new representatives to its Board of Directors: Sergi Vizoso-Sansano of BASF Agricultural Solutions, Subroto Geed of Corteva Agriscience and Sebastià Pons of FMC.
Sergi succeeds Simone Barg as BASF’s representative on the Board, Subroto succeeds Brook Cunningham as Corteva’s representative, while Sebastià succeeds Rahoul Sawani as FMC’s representative. The appointments also coincide with a transition in CropLife Asia’s leadership, with Paul Luxton, Head of Asia, Syngenta, formerly VicePresident, assuming the presidency, succeeding Simone Barg.
Sergi Vizoso-Sansano leads BASF Agricultural Solutions in Asia Pacific. He brings nearly 30 years of international experience with BASF across Europe and the Americas. Prior to his current role, he served as Senior Vice President, Agricultural Solutions Latin America, based in São Paulo, and also held leadership roles within CropLife associations in Latin America. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of CropLife Brasil and CropLife Latin America.
Subroto Geed is President, Asia Pacific, at Corteva Agriscience, having previously served as the company’s Head of South Asia. He brings extensive experience in business leadership, commercial strategy and operations across multiple industries and markets. Prior to joining Corteva, he held senior leadership positions across consumer healthcare, nutrition and beverages, with responsibilities spanning business growth, marketing, supply chain management and organizational development. His cross-sector experience brings a valuable perspective on business transformation, strategic partnerships and market development.
Sebastià Pons is the Executive Vice President and President, FMC Eurasia, leading FMC’s business across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific from Geneva. He joined FMC in 2017 and most recently served as President for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Before joining FMC, he spent 20 years with DuPont Crop Protection in regional and global roles across Europe and the United States. He has also served on the Board of CropLife Europe.
Paul Luxton has served as Head of Asia at Syngenta since January 2024, overseeing the company’s business across key Asian markets, including Southeast Asia, Bangladesh and Korea. He previously led Syngenta’s Australia and New Zealand business, having served as Country Head since 2008. With extensive experience in agricultural business leadership and industry engagement, Paul brings a strong understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing agriculture across the region. He previously served as President of CropLife Australia and was Vice-President of CropLife Asia before assuming the presidency.
“We are pleased to welcome Sergi, Subroto and Sebastià to the CropLife Asia Board. Their combined international experience and diverse perspectives will strengthen our work to advance science-based policies, responsible stewardship and agricultural innovation across Asia. We also thank our outgoing Board representatives for their contributions and look forward to working with Paul in his role as President,” said Siang Hee Tan, Executive Director of CropLife Asia.
CropLife Asia extends its sincere appreciation to Simone Barg for her leadership as President of the Board, and to Brook Cunningham and Rahoul Sawani for their contributions as Board representatives. The association thanks them for their service and commitment to its work across Asia.
CropLife Asia Board of Directors
The CropLife Asia Board leadership and company representatives are now as follows:
- Paul Luxton, Syngenta – President
- Malu Nachreiner, Bayer Crop Science – Treasurer
- Subroto Geed, Corteva Agriscience – Secretary
- Dai Ito, Sumitomo Chemical – Member
- Sergi Vizoso-Sansano, BASF Agricultural Solutions – Member
- Sebastià Pons, FMC – Member
About CropLife Asia
CropLife Asia is a non-profit society and the regional organization of CropLife International, the voice of the global plant science industry. We advocate for a safe, secure food supply, and our vision is food security enabled by innovative agriculture. CropLife Asia supports the work of 15 member associations across the continent and is led by six member companies at the forefront of crop protection, seeds and/or biotechnology research and development. For more information, visit us at www.croplifeasia.org.
For more information please contact:
Cindy Lim
Associate Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Partnerships
CropLife Asia
cindy.lim@croplifeasia.org