Argentina to release first Chinese biotech soybean trait

Last Tuesday 23rd, Argentine Official Register published a public consultation prior to the release of the first soybean trait developed by a Chinese biotech company. It is the DBN 09004-6, a trait to confer soybean tolerance to glyphosate and glufosinate-ammonium herbicides.

DBN is the acronym of Beijing Da-Bei-Nong Technology Group, which is developing new key traits to enhance crop productivity. In 2013 the company closed a cooperation agreement with local Bioceres company, to facilitate the regulatory process of DBN’s traits in Argentina, and Bioceres’ traits in China.

Bioceres is a partner at the Instituto Agrobiotecnológico Rosario (INDEAR), the flagship of the local biotech industry, which was developed the HB4 trait, that confers crops tolerance to salinity and drought.

When the de-regulation process was over, Argentine farmers will count with a new tool to combat weeds, different from the Monsanto trait, but with a “little” advantage: it is supposed that Chinese Government quickly accept its own developing.

Sources in the seed industry showed enthusiast with this new, asked by www.eFarmNewsAr.com

It is supposed too that traits developed by Bioceres/INDEAR would stack with DBN’s ones, facilitating its commercialization in both countries.

DBN also has cooperation agreements with biotech companies around the world, for example with Israeli Evogene, to developed rice varieties tolerance to drought and more efficient in the use of nitrogen.

Photo: facsimile of the Official Register open the consultation process (in Spanish)