Brazil to release three GM soybean and maize seeds with certain herbicides tolerance

In October the Brazil market will have three new varieties of transgenic soybean and maize seeds resistant to a herbicide widely used in crops such as rice, barley and wheat.

As the Valor PRO anticipated, real-time Valor information service, the news found that within two months Dow AgroSciences will be allowed to sell varieties resistant to 2.4-D, one of the components present in the "agentelaranja", used in the Vietnam War. The product is considered "extremely toxic", category 1, by the National Sanitary Agency (ANVISA). To have a better understanding, glyphosate is classified as "Little Toxic", category 4.

CTNBio, the National Technical Commission on Biosafety, is responsible for analyzing and authorizing the commercial release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the country, and it has received opinions in favor of the commercial release of subcommittees that assess their impact on human and animal health. Valor found that when the subject is taken to the House of Representative, in October, it should receive positive review from the majority of the members.

Considering the three applications, two are soybean and corn. The first, soybean, will be resistant to the 2.4-D and glufosinate ammonium herbicides. The second is resistant to the 2.4-D, glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium herbicides. Finally, the corn will be tolerant to the 2.4-D and certain acetyl coenzyme inhibitors herbicides.

The request has already got a few critics from environmentalists and researchers, who believe that the use of these new products will only happens because of resistance that the weeds acquire. "Over time, we have herbs that become very difficult to control. Consequently, the current herbicides have no effect and we need new products. All releases in this scenario need special attention," said agronomist Leonardo Melgarejo, doctor of Engineering Productionand representative of the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) in CTNBio.

Today, the product is already registered for use in the pre -harvest stage in rice, oatmeal, coffee, sugarcane, rye, barley, corn, soybeans, sorghum and pastures formed. "In these cases, it is applied pre-emergence and some people are concerned that the use of the product will increases with new varieties," said Melgarejo. The Agriculture and Livestock Federation of MatoGrosso State (Famato) expressed itself in favor of products resistant to 2.4- D in a 2010 document.