According to the latest news on March 7th, Embrapa, the Brazilian government's agricultural research institution, plans to expand the testing of various drought-resistant GM wheat varieties, including testing the GM wheat developed by the Argentine company Bioceres, in addition to testing in the Brazilian Cerrado (savanna) and planting these wheat varieties in the state of Minas Gerais to observe if the GM wheat seeds are suitable for tropical growing conditions.
Jorge Lemanski, head of Embrapa Wheat Research, said that last week's approval of planting and selling GM wheat in Brazil was a milestone, meaning that Embrapa can test this drought-resistant wheat variety in more areas of the country. This will help researchers understand the performance of wheat under different conditions, and help Brazilian farmers move closer to commercially growing GM wheat.
Jorge Lemanski, head of Embrapa Wheat Research, said that last week's approval of planting and selling GM wheat in Brazil was a milestone, meaning that Embrapa can test this drought-resistant wheat variety in more areas of the country. This will help researchers understand the performance of wheat under different conditions, and help Brazilian farmers move closer to commercially growing GM wheat.
Lemanski said that the ideal time to sow drought-resistant wheat seeds is between March 1st and April 10th. However, he added that Brazil still does not have enough GM wheat seeds to conduct large-scale experiments. In addition, it will take about four years of research to evaluate the adaptability of GM wheat to the tropical conditions in Brazil. Embrapa's first batch of experiments began around this time last year.
