The Brazilian government approved the drought-tolerant transgenic wheat, HB4, developed by the national company Bioceres, for sale as flour. It is a globally unique drought tolerance technology.
It is a 100% Argentine development, product of the public-private collaboration of more than 18 years between Bioceres and the research group of the Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral (CONICET-UNL). They started in 2001 with $ 600 (5 dollars) each, today they have a turnover of 177 dollars and are listed in NYC: Bioceres, the next unicorn, in depth.
The news was expected by the sector. Bioceres had obtained conditional approval in the country last year pending authorization from Brazil, the largest individual buyer of the cereal.
The HB4 wheat varieties have a sunflower gene incorporated that increases tolerance to drought conditions, reducing yield losses due to water deficit.
Regardless of the approval by Brazil, Bioceres “will continue to manage the production of HB4 wheat seeds and grain under the preserved identity program that was used in the last two campaigns to guarantee the traceability of production,” they remarked through a release.
In the last two agricultural seasons, the transgenic cereal was produced through a confined identity program, linking the company with producers. It is a closed system to guarantee traceability.
“It is important to highlight that both the seed and the grain produced are 100% owned by Bioceres”, highlights the company.
Reactions
On the other hand, the Brazilian association of flour millers, Abitrigo, indicated that it will ask the office of President Jair Bolsonaro to convene a national biosafety committee to review the decision. Abitrigo also said it is evaluating legal options to suspend a decision by the Brazilian biosafety agency National Technical Biosafety Commission (CTNBio) that approves imports of flour from Argentina.
In the statement issued, Abitrigo points out that “despite the strong rejection of the international market in the last 20 years, Brazil will unfortunately become the first country to approve the use of transgenic wheat in the world.” And among other things, it points out that “this decision, fraught with uncertainties regarding its consequences for the market and the international community, was adopted on the basis of criteria that affect safety, without further studying market conditions and consumer behavior “.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx