The Government justified the release of transgenic wheat: “Of course we take care of the markets, we’re not mad!”

The Minister of Agriculture, Julian Dominguez, defended the release of drought -resistant wheat made official today in the Official Gazette. This is at the “A Todo Trigo” event, the event that brings together all the links in the cereal chain.

“Of course we take care of the markets, we are not mad!“, stressed the official at the congress to be held in Mar del Plata until Friday.

“The world needs food, Brazil approved it for flour, Australia approved it, New Zealand, Asian countries accelerated the protocols. It is like giving up our scientific sovereignty do not approve the marketing of wheat, “he added.

Domínguez insisted that he was convinced that the climate changeHe bequeathed to stay.And for the official there are two ways to respond to this problem: mitigation through infrastructure works, such as the Salado River Master Plan, and biotechnology. “I am convinced that the business scene in Argentina is driven by technology, by knowledge,” he said.

“This technology allows areas with lower yields to guarantee their performance. We cannot deprive its producer due to market instability,” the minister defended.

Approval for planting in Argentina has deepened chain differences. From the Chamber of Cereal Exporters they issued a warning after hearing the news: “This rule brings a big business risk provided that all countries buying from us do not accept HB4 ”, the entity said in a statement published on social networks.

“The economic consequences of market losses will finally fall on the Ministry and the developer company,” the exporters maintained.

Another joining the controversy was the president of the Argentine Rural Society, Nicolás Pino. “Agricultural producers are receiving with great concern the national government’s decision to allow the cultivation of HB4 wheat. Although we are in favor of the technology, we are not sure of its impact on the commercialization of the product in foreign markets, “where he is.

Resolution

Drought -resistant wheat has been approved by the Government, after years of a process of regulatory reviews conducted on transgenic seed varieties and in this case implies scientific sanitary endorsement since 2020. Now it will also release the commercialization.

This is the HB4 variety developed by the Bioceres company in conjunction with researchers from the Universidad del Litoral and Conicet, led by Dr. Raquel Chan.

Resolution 27/2022 published this Thursday in the Official Gazette expresses the belief of the Minister of Agriculture, Julián Domínguez, that defends advances in agricultural biotechnology as a development opportunity for Argentina