Oct 22, 2010
Embrapa and Basf to Release GMO Soybeans in Brazil in 2012
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Brazilian soybean farmers will soon have a choice concerning what type of GMO soybeans they wish to plant on their property. Embrapa (the national agricultural research service) is set to release its first GMO soybean varieties to the Brazilian market in 2012.
These new GMO soybean varieties are the result of a 12 year public/private effort between Embrapa and the herbicide maker Basf. Basf provided the gene needed to make soybeans resistant to their herbicides and Embrapa inserted the gene into soybean varieties adapted for Brazilian soybean production. The new GMO soybean varieties are expected to be commercialized by the Brazilian Seed Association (Abrasem).
These new GMO soybean varieties will offer the first competition in Brazil to Monsanto and its Roundup Ready soybeans. Brazilian soybean farmers have readily adopted the use Roundup Ready soybeans because the technology reduces their cost of production and it adds more flexibility to their farming operation, but many have expressed their displeasure at having to pay royalties to an American company that they do not particularly like.
Basf is also a foreign company of course, but the development of soybeans resistant to Basf's herbicides involved Embrapa which Brazilian farmers hold in high esteem. Brazilian farmers will likely be more willing to pay royalties to Basf/Embrapa instead of Monsanto knowing that some of the money will be going to support Embrapa as well.
This new alternative also gives the farmers two choices which can be valuable when it comes to trying to control herbicide resistant weeds. Many weeds that are difficult to control are developing resistant to Roundup, but with a second herbicide option, the control of resistant weeds can be more effectively managed.