Bioceres Crop Solutions has announced that Brazil's biosafety regulatory agency, CTNBio, has concluded the safety approval of its drought- and glufosinate-tolerant HB4 wheat, providing full approval for commercialisation and cultivation in the country. This follows Brazil's decision to authorise imports of wheat flour derived from HB4 wheat for food and feed uses (see AgbioNews Nov 12, 2021). The approval will also enable Bioceres to accelerate its collaboration with the Brazilian agricultural research agency Embrapa to develop subtropical wheat varieties to increase the supply of local materials in this region.

Brazil represents the second country to authorise the cultivation of HB4 wheat, after Argentina (AgbioNews Oct 8, 2020). HB4 wheat is also approved for food and feed use in the US, Colombia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Nigeria, and for feed use in Indonesia.