World Grain - December 2024 - 42

FEATURE: GM WHEAT INCHES FORWARD IN US
Currently, no HB4 wheat is being bred or grown in
the United States, and the CWRF doesn't expect any
commercial plantings to take place for several years,
Erker said.
" We are in the middle of a multi-year process to
breed the trait into adapted Colorado varieties - being
done by Bioceres - so there are several more years
before that will be completed, " he said. " All of the varieties
sent to them, seven different ones, are hard red
winter varieties owned by CWRF. There's no testing
occurring yet because the variety development isn't far
enough along for that yet. "
The CWRF owns a range of wheat varieties adapted
to the US High Plains and Central Plains, and Colorado
regularly experiences drought as abiotic stress because
of its location in a 12- to 15-inch annual precipitation
zone that is " highly variable " year to year, Erker said.
" Colorado wheat growers have historically demonstrated
a willingness to adopt new technologies that
enhance their productivity and sustainability, " he said.
The USDA employed a " thorough, science-based
process " in deregulating the HB4 drought-tolerant trait
for wheat, Erker said, adding that " Colorado wheat
growers wish to position ourselves and the US wheat
industry for validation of the HB4 trait in-country and
US wheat industry acceptance of GMO wheat. "
At the same time, he noted, " Our goal is to ensure
our growers have access to technologies, and that our
customers have access to reliable supplies of the type
of wheat they want to buy. "
Market challenges
USW and NAWG have issued joint statements on the
wheat industry's position and principles for biotechnology
use and commercialization. High on the list:
Nations representing major US wheat export markets
- i.e. accounting for at least 5% of normal US wheat
export volume - must provide regulatory clearance
for a GM trait before it can be commercialized in the
United States. That will apply to HB4 wheat, USW's
Laudeman said.
" We export 50% of the wheat that we grow in the
United States; our export customers are very, very important
to us, " Laudeman said. " One of the key steps
in bringing a commercial product forward - that US
Wheat enshrines in a document called our 'Principles
for Biotechnology Commercialization' - basically
says that, before we support a commercial launch of
a product in the United States, you need to seek export
market approvals in all of our key export markets.
So if you're growing this wheat in the United States
and it could end up in a trade channel going to one of
our overseas customers, that country should have the
opportunity to review and do a regulatory assessment
42
Bioceres HB4 wheat
development gains traction
Argentina-based Bioceres Crop Solutions
said the United States - the world's fourthlargest
wheat producer - marks the fourth
nation to give the greenlight
to cultivation of HB4
drought-resistant wheat,
following Argentina, Brazil
and Paraguay.
Trucco
Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa, Nigeria,
Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia
and Chile have approved
HB4 technology
for food and feed use, said Martin Mariani,
global licensing and regulatory manager at
Bioceres. In Australia, the company has received
a license to begin field trials to collect
the necessary data for a later production application,
he said.
HB4 wheat dossiers also are being evaluated
in Bolivia, Uruguay, the Philippines and
Vietnam, Mariani added, and the company
recently submitted permit requests to begin
regulatory trials in South Africa.
In a conference call on fourth-quarter results,
Bioceres chief executive officer Federico
Trucco said HB4 wheat field-testing in
the United States " will not take less than two
years " to get underway.
" And if it takes a year longer or not depends
on other elements that have commercial
implications, particularly for wheat
exports out of the US that we may need
to address, " he said. " But it's an important
market. "
US clearance of HB4 wheat enlarges the
platform's cultivation opportunity by 4 million
hectares (10 million acres), Bioceres estimated.
" We
believe that by addressing the Midwestern
states, we can probably double the
existing opportunity we have today when
we look at Latin America and Australia combined, "
Trucco said. " And we will do so following
the guidance that was provided by
the wheat industry associations, US Wheat
Associates and the National Association of
Wheat Growers, that requires approvals in
certain key geographies where wheat exports
from the US are relevant. "
December 2024 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
Photo courtesy of Bioceres
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - December 2024
