First Field Test of Stacked HT Camelina Shows Positive Results

The first field trial test of stacked herbicide tolerant (HT) Camelina revealed favorable findings, according to agricultural bioscience company Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. Yield10's proprietary stacked HT Camelina varieties showed tolerance to an over-the-top herbicide for weed control and to Group 2 herbicide soil residues, a key advancement for the biofuel feedstock market.

Yield10 is executing a program to develop and commercialize spring and winter stacked HT Camelina varieties to achieve large acreage adoption of the crop in North America. The first field tests of candidate E3902 spring Camelina lines with stacked HT traits were conducted in the second quarter of 2023. The field tests were conducted to provide the plants with tolerance to the application of an over-the-top broadleaf herbicide for weed control as well as tolerance to soil residues of Group 2 herbicides, including imidazolinones (IMI) and sulfonylureas (SU). The initial results of these field tests showed that the stacked HT Camelina lines have the tolerance to both target herbicide chemistries.

By comparison, significant injury was observed to control E3902 Camelina plants following the application of an over-the-top herbicide and exposure to increasing concentrations of IMI or SU soil residues. Yield10 intends to harvest the plants in the weeks ahead. Seed yield and oil yield data will be collected to select lead and backup stacked HT spring E3902 Camelina lines for commercial development and seed scale-up.

In addition to the spring Camelina, Yield10's candidate stacked HT traits have also been deployed in a winter Camelina variety, and the first field tests are planned for the fall of 2023. Yield10 has filed a request for Regulatory Status Review with USDA-APHIS Biotechnology Regulatory Services for stacked HT Camelina under the SECURE Rule, and a response from the agency is pending.

For more details, read the press release from Yield10 Bioscience.