Historic farming practices have a negative impact on the environment and could drive up already soaring global temperatures. That's according to the CEO of one of the world's top agrochemical producers.

"Many farmers till the soil to reduce the weeds, bring up the seeds so that the weeds don't grow," said Syngenta CEO Erik Fyrwald in an interview with CGTN in Davos, Switzerland. "But what happens when you till the soil, the CO2 in the soil is released into the atmosphere," he added, saying that this, in turn, adds to the greenhouse effect, which raises global temperatures. 

However, according to Fyrwald,  new modern techniques are helping to combat this by stopping farmers from plowing the land and releasing more stored CO2 into the atmosphere. "We're bringing new modern herbicides to control weeds in ways that keep the farmer from tilling the soil, minimize the tilling of the soil," he said. 

"With our techniques, you can minimize or not till, leaving the carbon dioxide in the soil and keep the soil as a reservoir for CO2." As a result of this, Fyrwald says less soil is being disrupted and, in turn, less CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere.

The CEO also said the technique helps reduce water wastage – another big issue in areas hit by drought, as less water "runs off" the soil during tillage. "Techniques like no/low till, enabled by modern technology, significantly reduce the impact of agriculture on climate change [and] make a big difference," said Fyrwald.