A new genetically modified (GM) wheat variety using genes derived from sunflower seeds has been commercialized in Argentina and Brazil, World Grain reported.
A new drought-tolerant wheat variety, HB4, has been developed by Argentine biotech company Bioceres, according to an August 27 report.
Brazil and Argentina, South America’s leading grain and oilseed producers, are the second and third largest producers of genetically modified crop varieties in the world after the United States, according to the report.
“With more than 26 million hectares planted to genetically engineered (GE) soybean, maize and cotton crops, Argentina has the third largest area of GE crops in the world,” an Argentine government spokesperson said. A spokesperson was quoted as saying. Sector published in December 2023.
“Commercial introduction of GE crops began in 1996 with the introduction of herbicide-tolerant soybeans, and since then there has been an unprecedented increase in acreage.”
The spokesperson said the approval of HB4 in Argentina has raised concerns among farmers’ organizations and exporters that the export of Argentine wheat to other markets could be hampered.
To address these concerns, the Argentine government has established an audit committee within the National Institute of Seeds (INASE), a spokesperson said.
Argentine authorities said: “The biosafety approval granted to flour derived from HB4 wheat satisfies the regulatory requirements for key market approvals, and commercialization of HB4 seeds is fully approved in May 2022.” It was showing.
In an email response to questions from World Grain, Martin Mariani, Global Seed and Trait Manager at Bioceles, said: “For HB4 wheat grown in Argentina and Brazil, It does not consider itself to be a substitute for traditional wheat, since it has been used for a long period of time, such as in the central and southern production areas of the Pampas of Argentina, where they account for more than 95% of production. This is because it can stabilize production in traditional wheat-producing regions that experience periodic droughts (Argentina’s wheat production) and the southern states of Brazil (90% of Brazil’s wheat-producing area). , both experiencing the worst and longest drought in decades.
Mariani said it is also being grown in newer wheat-producing regions, such as Brazil’s Cerrado region, where Bioceles is working with Brazil’s agricultural research corporation Embrapa to develop the subtropical wheat HB4 variety.
“More than 55,000ha of HB4 wheat was planted in Argentina in the 2022/23 season, out of a total of 5.9Mha,” Mariani added.
“Overall, from 2019 to date, more than 100,000 hectares of HB4 wheat have been planted in Argentina. We are also working with other seed companies that are developing HB4 varieties in Argentina.”
Mariani said HB4 wheat is the only drought-tolerant wheat technology currently available.
“It could play an important role in adapting agricultural systems to more extreme climates.”
HB4 wheat showed an average 20% increase in yield under water-limited conditions, he said.
Meanwhile, Bioceles’ HB4 wheat trait received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on August 27, World Grain wrote in a separate report on August 28.
However, US Wheat Associates (USW) notes that it may still be several years before HB4 is commercially available in the US, as several further steps need to be taken, including the need to conduct closed-system field trials. The report states that there was a warning that .
In addition to being grown in Paraguay and Argentina, HB4 wheat is approved for food and feed in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Colombia, Thailand and Chile, according to Bioceles’ Mariani.
Mike Peters, former chairman of US Wheat Associates, said the HB4 wheat dossier is also being evaluated in Bolivia, Uruguay and the Philippines.
