From time to time, the insect known as larva or caterpillar has wreaked havoc on crops. The latest outbreak is being called the worst since the 1960s.
A new type of corn has been approved by the Brazilian CTNBio (National Technical Commission on Biosafety), and it is scheduled to be planted on thousands of acres across the country at any moment. But the big question is, “how will this corn variety help Brazilian farmers”?
The venture offers higher yields and less pesticide use. Specifically, a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, used in the genetic modification of the EH913 event, kills lepidopteran pests, such as Spodoptera frugiperda and Diatraea saccharalis, which are an important corn pest.
According to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, only two foreign companies are equipped with the technology to supply this variety to the world market.
During an interview, Frederico Ozanan Machado Durães, General Manager of Embrapa Corn and Sorghum, commented, “The construction of disruptive knowledge, in the public-private partnership, is an intelligent strategic process of co-creation and highly timely co-development to increase relevance in the productive sector. Exchanging knowledge – technical-scientific, managerial and business – is relevant to impact the productive sector, and, at this moment, the approval of the EH913 event for commercial use in Brazil puts the country and its partners on a route of high contribution in the interest of the farmer and promotion of the development of Brazilian agriculture,”
While the date for commercialization in Brazil is yet to be confirmed, The Federal Government is encouraging farmers to consider planting this variety as an economical way to help control the pests of corn, cotton, soybeans and nuts plaguing the agricultural sector of the company.