Syngenta advancing GM wheat research in US
Date: 24-Feb-03
Country: USA
Author: Carey Gillam
The GM wheat, Syngenta's first foray into that controversial arena, is one that has been bred to be resistant to fusarium head blight, a fungal disease that can have devastating consequences for farmers as well as millers and bakers.
The Basel, Switzerland-based Syngenta has been keeping its research work quiet but is now moving into a new phase of advanced research and development that could lead to a product on the market as early as 2007, said John Bloomer, Syngenta's global head of cereal seeds and traits in an interview with Reuters.
"There is a natural pull for this technology," Bloomer said.
Syngenta has recently started negotiations with North Dakota State University as well as universities in South Dakota and Minnesota. The company sees scab as a global problem but expects to launch its scab-resistant wheat in the U.S. first, said Bloomer. Field trials are currently underway in the United States, United Kingdom, Argentina, and Canada.
"This project is moving from research into development," said Bloomer. "We've got a gene that has an effect and we're looking at how it works in the field. We're doing more and more field trials. We still have a few years of technical work to do."
Bloomer said U.S. and Canadian spring wheat areas, particularly some northeastern areas of North Dakota, suffer greatly from cool moist conditions that foster fusarium problems. Northern soft red winter markets are also affected.
Around the world, fusarium cuts into wheat yield and quality in areas of Europe, Latin America, China and parts of Australia, Bloomer said. Finding an answer to that problem in a scab-resistant wheat would be a significant accomplishment, he said, citing research that showed U.S. farmers have suffered $3 billion in economic losses due to scab since 1990.
Research cited by the North Dakota Grain Growers estimated losses in that state alone of $870 million over three years.
Because fusarium reduces the quality of the wheat as well as the overall yield, the benefits could move up the food chain to millers and bakers, Bloomer said.
Farmers appear to be eager to embrace the new wheat.
A scab-resistant wheat "has a lot of market appeal," said Larry Lee, a spring wheat and durum grower in North Dakota.
"It would improve quality of wheat and have some huge benefits for the end users."
Syngenta competitor Monsanto Co. (MON.N) has been developing a genetically modified wheat of its own, one that is resistant to herbicides - like its own Roundup - and can thus ease weed control for farmers.
Monsanto is in the final stages of getting regulatory approval for its product, Roundup Ready wheat, with an initial launch planned for the U.S. and Canada. Roundup Ready wheat would be the first-ever GM wheat marketed.
However, market acceptance issues have been problematic, as foreign buyers of U.S. wheat have expressed strong opposition to the industry's moves to genetically modify wheat.
While genetically modified corn and soybeans are widely planted in the U.S. and elsewhere, GM wheat has yet to see the type of market acceptance that encourages a launch.
Bruce Freitag, president of North Dakota Grain Growers, said Syngenta's GM wheat could help overcome opposition.
"There is more interest in a scab-resistant wheat than in herbicide resistant," Freitag said. "It is something that a lot of producers have problems with and something that could have a strong economic benefit. Even importing companies that have an aversion to GM wheat may take a second look if they can get a better quality wheat."
Syngenta's Bloomer said his company was monitoring Monsanto's efforts and expected the launch of Roundup Ready wheat could have an impact on how scab-resistant GM wheat is handled.
"We are not arrogant enough to say we've got the GM wheat issue licked," said Bloomer. "We have interactions with universities, grower groups, wheat industry groups and the milling and baking industry on this. We bel