EMBRAPA and BASF Announce First Brazilian-Developed Biotech Crop

A leading public research institution, the Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA), of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, and the chemical company BASF, have announced this week an agreement for the commercialization of new herbicide-tolerant varieties of soybean. As part of the agreement, BASF provided EMBRAPA with the gene ahas, which confers tolerance to the herbicide imidazolin, while the Brazilian institution was responsible for the insertion of the trait into soybeans. EMBRAPA and BASF share the patent for the new varieties, which will represent the first biotech crops developed in Brazil to be commercialized. It is expected that new varieties will be available to farmers in 2012, increasing the choice of weed management options for Brazilian growers. Brazil is the most important producer of soybeans in the world.  

 “This is an excellent example of how companies can create synergy in research, development and commercialization that result in solutions for farmers made to measure” affirmed Walter Dissinger, head of BASF Agricultural Products in Latin America. “In the current economy of the knowledge in which we live, innovation is a distinguishing factor” added Silvio Crestana, Director of EMBRAPA.   For more information visit http://www.embrapa.gov.br/imprensa/noticias/2007/agosto/1a-semana/embrapa-e-basf-assinam-acordo-inedito/ or write to rose.azevedo@embrapa.br,  patricia.pecego@basf.com; or joelma.amaral@basf.com