Argentina first to approve GM wheat production
Argentina has approved HB4 drought-resistant GMO wheat by biotechnology firm Bioceres SA, the company and the government said on Wednesday, making it the first country in the world to approve a strain of GMO wheat, Reuters reports.
“Today Argentina is leading technological transformation at an international level,” the CEO of Bioceres, Federico Trucco, said in a statement issued in conjunction with the country’s science and technology ministry.
While other crops such as corn and soybeans have been widely genetically modified to improve yield or withstand threats, GMO wheat has not been approved anywhere for commercial production because of consumers’ concerns. Wheat is primarily used for human consumption, Reuters adds.
“I will not plant HB4 wheat, and I would not recommend that anyone else does, until it has been approved by importing countries. It seems risky in the sense that we could end up with crops that no one wants to buy,” said Francisco Santillan, who manages farms in Cordoba, Santa Fe and Buenos Aires province.
Last year, 45% of the 11.3 mln t of wheat harvested in Argentina was shipped to Brazil. The head of the Brazilian Wheat Industry Associations, Rubens Barbosa, told Reuters the group was following the situation with interest.
“We have requested information from the government because no countries allow the importation of GMO wheat,” said Gustavo Idigoras, head of Argentina’s CIARA CEC grains export industry chamber.
As a reminder, wheat is 100% harvested in Ukraine in the 2020 production season. The new crop reached 25.1 mln t using the average yield of 3.83 t/ha. Sowing of winter wheat in the country for the 2021 harvest is in progress.