AgroPages-Argentina approves new corn, soybean GMO seeds-Agricultural news

Argentina approves new corn, soybean GMO seeds

The Ministry of Agriculture of Argentina has approved the commercialization of two varieties of corn and one soybean variety improved by modern biotechnology.

One of the corn crops approved incorporates multiple genes to increase the control of the Lepidoptera insects, as well as tolerance to herbicides glyphosate and glufosinate. Another is resistant to the herbicides 2-4,D and aryloxyphenoxy.

Regarding the soybean crop, the characteristic is to make it tolerant to the herbicides glyphosate, glufosinate and isoxaflutole, easing the control of resistant plagues with different mechanisms of action.

The decision was supported by a work of the regulatory system for genetically-modified organisms, which the application authority in the country is the Department of Food and Bioeconomy within the ministry.

At the evaluation of the products, there was an intervention of the National Advisory Commission on Agricultural Biotechnology, the Reference Center for Biosecurity and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Besides, the innocuity and aptitude were evaluated by the National Service for Food Quality and Health (Senasa), while the National Institute of Seeds (Inase) was responsible for the regulatory control during the stages of experimental release in the field.

“These first three authorizations at the beginning of 2018 are a result of a policy of quickness that we implemented as an axis of the administration. In this case, it applied to the legal proceedings to incorporate innovation for the producer. Our goals are to increase sustainability, productivity, and agri-business exports,” the minister, Luis Miguel Etchvehere said.

The crops were developed by the companies Syngenta, Dow and Bayer, and provided the producers with new help of tools to ease the control of insects and plagues, besides mitigating the appearance of resistant plagues thanks to different combinations of action mechanisms.