Biotechnology in Brazil
Date:08-08-2017
Usted puede encontrar la versión en español de este artículo aquí. 'La biotecnologia en Brasil'
By Paulo Campante, Executive Superintendent, Associação Brasileira de Sementes e Mudas (ABRASEM); Mariana Barreto, Board of Directors Advisor, ABRASEM
In the last two decades, Brazilian agribusiness has undergone major changes, becoming one of the most important sectors of the national economy, also making Brazil one of the world leaders in the agricultural sector. Today the agribusiness is responsible for about 23% of GDP, and a quarter of all jobs generated in Brazil. According to the last report of the Centro de Estudos Avançados em Economia (CEPEA) in 2017, the gross income or gross value of livestock production was U$170 billion, with U$117 billion from agriculture and U$53 billion from livestock.
According to the Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB), in the last season (2016-2017), the harvest area in Brazil was nearly 60.3 million hectares, an increase of 3.5% over the previous year. Soybean was again the major crop with 18.4% increase in production, reaching 113 million tons and maize (cultivated during winter) was second with a production of 63 million tons, grown on approximately 11.7 million hectares. According to the same report, the total estimated grain production was 232 million tons, an increase of 24.3% (945.410.000 tons), compared with the 2015-16 season. Such values are outstanding, mainly because a little more than 20 years ago, Brazil still needed to import food to meet the needs of its population.
Today Brazil stands out as one of the largest producers and exporters of food and fiber in the world. Studies have pointed out that if the productivity levels of a few years ago were still the same, Brazil would have to incorporate some 70 million hectares to the current 201617 season. In other words, Brazil is not only producing food, but also producing sustainable food. Brazilian agribusiness has developed a robust system of genetic improvement and seed production. The use of improved seeds directly reflects the growth and diversification of Brazilian agricultural production. The intensive use of new technology on the field was the main reason for establishing a new level of productivity for the main species produced in the country, such as soybean, maize and cotton.
With regard to biotechnology, the revision of the biosafety law in 2005 was fundamental not only to create a stable institutional environment, which is essential to the establishment of R&D companies in the market, but also to eliminate old conflicts of authority that existed in the previous law (Law No. 8,974/1995). The revision of the regulatory framework has drastically changed the research scenario for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Brazil. The new legislation has created different mechanisms and governmental bodies that not only promoted research with GMOs, but also ensured the necessary security for the development of new technologies.
Under the scope of the new law, the Brazilian National Technical Biosafety Commission (CTNBio) is responsible for the risk analysis and technical decision, on a case-by-case basis, on the biosafety of GMOs and their derivatives, including risk classification, levels of biosafety requirements, safety measures and restrictions. Besides these, CTNBio is responsible for advising the Federal Government on the formulation, updating and implementation of the National Biosafety Policy. According to the new law (Law No. 11.105/05), the CTNBio will support technically the registration and inspection bodies and entities (MAPA, ANVISA and IBAMA) in the exercise of their activities related to GMOs and their derivatives.
At a higher level, the law established the National Biosafety Council (CNBS), which analyzes the possible socioeconomic impacts of GMOs and can revoke a CTNBio decision to market a new biotech product after its risk assessment. The law also created the Internal Biosafety Committees (CIBio), which act as managers and supervisors of any activity with GMOs in institutions that carry out work in modern biotechnology (research, development, innovation or production). The relationship created by the new law is observed in Figure 1.
Figure1 Main relationship and agencies according to the Brazilian framework
Considered globally as one of the most modern biosafety laws, Law 11.105/05 consolidates biotechnology as one of the main tools in the development and launch of new commercial cultivars in Brazil. Through a technological perspective, the use of biotechnology in agriculture with genetically modified cultivars has been considered responsible for the main changes in the Brazilian seed market. The extensive adoption of biotechnology in Brazil has significantly altered the market dynamics and the relationship between breeders, seed producers and farms.
The new environment that combined knowledge in the areas of genetic engineering, seeds and agricultural chemicals allowed some companies to create the perfect environment for innovation and development of new products. This scenario strengthened the presence of large conglomerates that started to act with the contribution of new technologies, high investments and aggressive strategies for the conquest of the market.
Today, Brazil has 71 traits (GM events) approved for use in agriculture; 28 veterinary vaccines; 13 microorganisms; one mosquito Aedes aegypti and one medicine. By evaluating the history of GMO's approval for agriculture in Brazil, it is possible to note how the review of the biosafety framework played an important role in the development of biotechnology in Brazil (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Traits approved for commercial use in Brazil
After 2007, despite some contrary reactions on the part of some members, CTNBio's final decisions were made with absolute majority, which facilitated the commercial approval processes of biotechnological traits in Brazil, as can be observed in figure 2. However, it is still possible to note a strong trend of concentration of commercial release in crops such as corn, soybeans and cotton. The high costs involved in the process of discovery, development and commercial authorization of a genetically modified event are clearly one of the factors that most restricts the entry of new actors in the market, as well as the research and development of new technologies for other species.
In 2015, the first genetically modified eucalyptus was approved and more recently, in June 2017, the first transgenic sugarcane in the world was approved. The variety, which may hit the market in the coming months, is resistant to the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis), the main pest that threatens the crop. The inserted feature, insect resistance obtained through the introduction of Bacillus thuringiensis soil bacterial genes, has already brought benefits to other crops, such as corn, cotton and soybean.
The rapid adoption of biotechnology in Brazil means that the country has achieved a prominent role in the global scenario, and is currently the second largest producer of biotech crops after the United States. According to Céleres Consulting Group, in the 2016-17 season, 49 million hectares were planted with soybean, corn and genetically modified cotton, which represents about 93.4% of the total area cultivated with the three crops in the country. In the case of soybean, there are more than 32 million hectares planted with genetically modified cultivars (96.5% of total soybean sown in Brazil), divided into 59.8% for combined events, insect resistance and herbicide tolerance technology (RI/TH) and 36.7% for herbicide tolerant (HT) genes (figure 3).
Figure 3 Biotechnology adoption in Brazil
According to the same report, for maize, the adoption rate achieved is 88.4%. Of this total, 63.9% were cultivated with IR/TH events, 20.7% with insect resistant corn and 3.8% with herbicide tolerant technology. In the case of winter maize, or second crop, the rate of adoption of GM cultivars was 91.8% of the total area sown, or 10.4 million hectares, 15.4% higher than last year. RI/ TH events were also dominant for this crop, reaching 7.1 million hectares and an adoption rate of 62.4%. The other technologies (IR and TH) reached 24.8% and 4.6% of the area planted with winter maize, respectively. In the case of maize, the total area to whichbiotechnology was applied was 5.3 million hectares (an increase of 16.2% over 2015-16), or 82.4% of adoption. The technology with combined genes represented 66.5% of the total sown, followed by IR corn (13.5% of the total) and herbicide tolerant events (2.5% of the total).
Of the three main genetically modified crops used in Brazil, cotton is the only crop that still has the growth potential of the rate of adoption. After harvest, the adoption of GM cotton totaled 78.3% of the total sown, or 726,000 hectares (a slight fall of 3.3% compared with the previous year). As for soybean and corn, RI/TH technology is the most used, reaching 392,000 hectares, or 42.3% of the total area, followed by TH cotton, with 23.9% and RI, with 12.1% of the total (Céleres, 2017).
The numerous benefits brought by biotechnology reflected the rate of adoption of GMOs in Brazil. However, the simultaneous approval of several events, especially for maize, has given the farmer the false impression that the seed industry can provide new technologies at any time, and that it is no longer necessary to use good agricultural practices, such as pest monitoring, weed control, and refuge areas, among others. After a few years, some technologies are losing efficiency in the field, with some pests developing resistance to the initial GM technologies.
Since 2011, the seed industry has developed specific programs to raise farmers' awareness of the importance of using good agricultural practices (GAP) in GM crops. Today, the program counts on the effective participation of an association of soya, corn and cotton producers, as well as cooperatives and rural unions from different regions of the country. Today, it is possible to observe positive results from these efforts with farms, seed companies and breeders promoting the importance of GAP in GM crops.
Biotechnology has emerged as an important tool to meet the growing global demand for food. In this new world scenario, Brazil has been playing a fundamental role as a provider of food and fiber. Our vocation is agriculture, and only with hard work, the intensive use of new technology and a stable regulatory framework can we face the challenge of feeding a growing population that is likely to reach nine billion people by 2050.
Download AgroPages' latest magazine - 2017 Latin America Focus