Argentina’s Ministry of Agriculture granted approval of the Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp.’s drought-tolerant HB4 wheat for growth and consumption. Argentina is Latin America’s largest wheat producer and the world’s first country to adopt HB4 drought tolerance technology for this staple crop.
The country’s regulatory clearance follows the approval of HB4 Soybean, which has been approved in other major production geographies, including the U.S. and Brazil which, together with Argentina, represent nearly 80% of the world’s total soybean acreage. Commercialization of HB4 Wheat in Argentina is contingent upon import approval in Brazil, which purchases just over 85% of its wheat from Argentina. Currently, regulatory processes for HB4 Wheat also continue advancing in the U.S., Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. Bioceres intends to initiate regulatory processes in Australia and Russia as well as certain countries in Asia and Africa.
Drought-tolerant HB4 Wheat is a patented seed technology developed by Trigall Genetics, Bioceres’ joint venture with Florimond Desprez, a global leader in wheat genetics. In field trials conducted during the last ten years, HB4 seed varieties increased wheat yields by 20%, on average, during growing seasons impacted by droughts. The incidence of drought has been increasing in frequency, as climate change worsens across the world, affecting the stability of agricultural ecosystems. In addition to mitigating production losses during drought conditions, HB4 also facilitates double cropping, which seasonally rotates soy and wheat, an environmentally friendly farming system that is otherwise limited by water availability. When combined with soil regenerative practices, such as no-till farming, a sharecropping system made possible by HB4 seeds captures more carbon than conventional growing practices. For each acre farmed per year, the resulting sequestration is equivalent to two months of carbon emitted by an automobile. Substantially higher crop yields through HB4 also reduce the need to expand agriculture’s global footprint, while aiding in the reversion of fragile agricultural land back to native ecosystems.
“Our EcoWheat® and EcoSoy® products will enable food production companies and retailers the opportunity to offer consumers foods that are carbon-neutral, in addition to other environmental benefits they increasingly desire. Importantly, our HB4 technology does not translate into higher costs for consumers, making sustainable foods widely accessible,” said Federico Trucco, chief executive officer of Bioceres.
