Nuseed omega-3 canola milestones met in Australia and North America

Nuseed, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nufarm Ltd, has completed preparation for regulatory approvals of its innovative long-chain omega-3 canola. Australian filings have been submitted, with United States and Canadian submissions anticipated to be filed this month. Pending regulatory approvals, commercialisation is expected to commence in 2018 or 2019.

“Reaching these regulatory milestones in all three countries gives us both timing and location options as we commercialise canola based long-chain omega-3,” says Brent Zacharias, Nuseed Group Executive.

Nuseed’s proprietary canola will provide long-chain omega-3 oils, similar to those found in fish oil, using a sustainable land-based source. It has been developed through collaboration between Nuseed, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

“These submissions reflect our confidence in and commitment to the science, safety and global potential of our omega-3 program,” says Zacharias.

The regulatory submissions are being made to the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) in Australia; to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada in Canada; and to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

The company also announced commercial brands for the resulting oil product, specific to key end-use markets; AquaterraTM for aquaculture feed uses, and NutriterraTM for human nutrition application.

Long-chain omega-3 DHA and EPA are essential for human and fish health. This new proprietary product aims to help relieve pressure on wild fish stocks, which are the current source for this important nutrient. By providing a proven land-based source of these oils, Nuseed will help maintain adequate supply to meet strongly increasing global demand. It is anticipated that one hectare of this canola has the potential to provide the omega-3 yield from 10,000 kilograms of fish.

The unique profile of the Nuseed oil ensures that it will easily fit with current market practices and meet the needs of multiple end-market applications on a commercially viable basis.

The crop will be produced under a closed-loop grain handling and oil processing system. In 2017 Nuseed intends to grow up to 4,000 acres of omega-3 canola in the US for pre-commercial production under the stewardship of the USDA notification process.

Background information about Nuseed’s Long-Chain Omega-3 Canola Program

Nuseed (a wholly owned subsidiary of Nufarm Ltd), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) formed a research collaboration in 2011 to develop a high quality, sustainable, renewable and reliable source of long-chain omega-3 oil for human consumption.

These healthy omega-3 oils typically originate in ocean microalgae. Fish consume the microalgae-derived oils via their food-chain and are the current primary source of long-chain omega-3 oil for direct or indirect human consumption. This project adds microalgae genes to canola, using world-leading genetic breeding technologies, so that the crop is rich in these higher-value higher-nutrition oils.

The project represents a significant advancement in the development of crops that deliver additive downstream consumer benefits. Initial work has successfully achieved high levels of DHA in the oil, which is a prominent requirement for many potential end-use markets for the product.

More than 25 million hectares of canola are grown worldwide every year. It is a crop that performs well in several growing regions and is familiar to many Australian, US, Canadian and European farmers. This good agronomic understanding of canola, and its already high oil production, made it the perfect plant to select for the omega 3 project.

Australian and North American growers and markets will benefit from this innovative product, with pre-commercialisation processes already underway.