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Bioceres awaits key approval to advance commercialization of drought-tolerant wheat

Bioceres awaits key approval to advance commercialization of drought-tolerant wheat

The discovery of the HB4 Gene is a 100% Argentine development carried out by Bioceres and Conicet, and it is the only drought-tolerant technology in the world for soybean and wheat crops. This means that it allows more production in a context of water limitations, achieving greater care for the environment and natural resources.

Marketing of HB4 wheat

The drought that plagues Argentina hit the wheat campaign squarely. That is why available technology such as the one Bioceres offers to the market, where higher yields can be obtained in situations of water stress, is gaining more and more strength.

Guillermo Irastorza, a farmer from the southwest of the Buenos Aires province who planted genetically modified wheat, assured that he cannot imagine a future without the HB4 gene. With these benefits provided by new technologies, it is clear that the debate regarding the global progress of this innovation is not agricultural or scientific, but rather cultural and/or social.

In Argentina there are no limitations. In May 2022, the then Ministry of Agriculture authorized the firm Indear through resolution 27/2021 to “commercialize the seed, and the derived products and by-products.” At the same time, it gave the go-ahead for its commercialization, therefore, from that moment on, the company made agreements with milling companies to buy the cereal.

As of today, Bioceres could freely market all the varieties it has available: three first generation materials (Paraná, Bermejo and Pilcomayo), two second generation (Iruya and Traful) and another three in the registration process. However, he dedicated himself to waiting for the approval of the majority of the countries that import Argentine wheat to advance with the commercial launches in the local market.

So far, Bioceres wheat has received approvals in the United States (FDA), Colombia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Nigeria. It was also accepted in Indonesia (only for animal feed) and in Brazil (only meal for animal feed and human consumption). As Alexandre García, director of the firm’s seed unit, explained, this week there could be news about the regulatory process in Brazil, which would be a key step to extend local marketing to more agricultural areas of the country. Specifically, what would enable Brazil is the sowing of Bioceres seeds in that country, which until now has only been authorized in Argentina.

Wheat for human consumption

One of the great novelties of the presentation was the confirmation that several mills processed the wheat with the HB4 gene obtained in the last campaign. Agustín Forzani, managing partner of Molino Esperanza, explained that “we have been processing HB4 wheat for three years, first it was small batches and in 2022 we received much more, in total about 10,000 tons. This is how we supplied ourselves with good wheat in a year where the quality was very poor.”

Forzani shared different analyzes where the behavior of wheat harvested under the HB4 Generation program showed the same values ​​(gluten) as conventional cereals.

All the wheat produced was mixed and marketed as flour, therefore, it entered the food companies that produce it for human consumption. As Ámbito learned, there are already more than 25 mills that bought HB4 wheat and sold it to the food industry.

Source: Ambito

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