Bioceres to market GMO wheat in Argentina this year after Brazil win, CEO says

Bioceres Crop Solutions

07/03/2023 21:55

By Maximilian Heath
       BUENOS AIRES, March 7 (Reuters) - Argentine biotech firm
Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp  BIOX.O  will market its
drought-tolerant genetically modified wheat in Argentina this
year, its chief executive said, after a key Brazil approval and
dry weather bolstered the case for GMO.
    Bioceres is leading the push globally to establish GMO wheat
and break a taboo over transgenic wheat going back decades due
to consumer fears that allergens or toxicities could emerge in a
staple used worldwide for bread, pasta and pastries.
    Those fears are now starting to ease as high food prices,
the war in Ukraine and more regular droughts hitting crop
harvests shift the needle for farmers and flour millers.
    In an interview on Tuesday, Bioceres CEO Federico Trucco
told Reuters the firm would start to market HB4 wheat this year,
though it would focus on working with seed "multipliers,"
dedicated to increasing seed numbers versus turning the grain to
flour.
    "In the first year it will probably only be the multipliers
able to scale it, but there may be some bags for producers who
want to test the technology," said Trucco.
    The plans come after Brazil approved HB4 wheat for planting
last week, and after early trials in Argentina, which has been
battered by drought since last year, showed HB4 yields
outperforming regular wheat by as much as 43% in dry conditions.
    Trucco said the trials used "twin" wheat strains, "identical
in all genes except the presence or absence of HB4."
    "We made comparisons between twins in 20 different places in
Argentina and the difference was undisputable because there is
not a single case where the twin that has HB4 performed less
well than the one that does not," he said.
    Bioceres, however, faces a long road ahead, despite
approvals and improving acceptance by potential buyers. Brazil,
a major food producer, is the largest buyer of Argentine wheat.
    The giant South American country is planning to expand
testing of HB4 wheat, though it will take four years to test the
seed's adaptability to tropical conditions and it needs more
seeds to be able to do large-scale testing.
    Trucco said for the 2023/24 season, which starts in May, the
firm would work with seed multipliers who could then offer seeds
to their own producers. Until now, Bioceres produced HB4 wheat
only through direct private deals with farmers.
    In Brazil he said HB4 wheat could help eventually expand the
wheat planting area by around 50% by making wheat more drought-
tolerant. Brazil plants some 3 million hectares with wheat,
mostly in southern states like Rio Grande do Sul and Parana.
    Beyond Brazil, HB4 wheat has gained approvals for
consumption in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Nigeria,
where the entry of the GMO grain is allowed.
    Bioceres is also keen to make progress in the United States,
where it has received a green light from the Food and Drug
Administration, but is waiting for approval from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Trucco said.
    "We have had a very active dialogue with the U.S. wheat
associations," said Trucco. "We are working with some American
universities that have the germplasm for the area of interest to
us, which is mainly the Great Plains."

 (Reporting by Maximilian Heath in Buenos Aires
Editing by Adam Jourdan and Matthew Lewis)
 ((adam.jourdan@thomsonreuters.com; +54 1155446882; Reuters
Messaging: adam.jourdan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))