Posted on November, 21, 2024 at 11:03 am
Success has been an elusive achievement for technology providers wanting to develop hybrid non-GMO wheat products for U.S. farmers.
Corteva is the latest company to announce its intention to develop proprietary non-GMO hybrid technology. It plans to launch hybrid hard red winter (HRW) wheat as early as 2027 in North America, adding to its portfolio over time, the company shared in a recent press release.
Corteva says its hybrid HRW wheat technology will:
1. Increase farmers’ yield potential by 10%1 while using the same amount of land and resources, providing significant promise for both farmers and global food security;
2. Be more resistant to drought: research trials show Corteva’s hybrid wheat can yield roughly 20% higher2 than elite varieties in water-stressed environments, which would help farmers better adapt to the impacts of a changing climate.
3. Accelerate the speed to market of new elite germplasm by increasing the scale of parent seed production over competitors’ technology.
Wheat ranks third behind corn and soybeans among U.S. field crops in planted acreage, USDA says. Approximately 39.1 million acres of wheat were harvested this year.
A Look Behind And Forward
The development of hybrid non-GMO wheat products has netted a mixed bag of results for technology manufacturers, among them Syngenta, Bayer Crop Science and BASF.
The latter two recently abandoned their development efforts, citing costs and the wheat genome complexity as reasons for their decisions.
Bayer’s development efforts were the first to topple, and BASF acquired Bayer’s R&D platform for hybrid wheat in 2018.
BASF then announced its decision in early 2023 to pull its hybrid wheat development program from North America, despite 15 years of research. BASF is continuing its hybrid wheat efforts in Europe.
Different Products, Different Goals
While Bayer and BASF dropped out of the race, Syngenta has made inroads in developing and launching hybrid hard red spring wheat (HRS) commercially.
In 2023, Syngenta launched three hybrid HRS wheat products in the U.S. Northern Plains under the AgriPro brand.
HRS wheat is considered the “aristocrat of wheat” used in designer wheat foods such as bagels, artisan health breads, pizza crust and other strong dough applications, according to the U.S. Wheat Associates.
In 2023, 5.6 million acres of HRS wheat were planted in the United States, a slight increase from 5.3 million acres in 2022. The bulk of HRS wheat is grown in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho and Washington.
More Acreage Potential?
Unlike Syngenta, Corteva is focusing its current development efforts on hybrid hard red winter (HRW) wheat. HRW is the most widely grown class of wheat in the U.S.
Hard red winter wheat is known for its consistency and milling efficiency. U.S. Wheat Associates describes it as a reliable foundational ingredient for most wheat-based products.
In 2024, the estimated number of acres of hard red winter (HRW) wheat planted in the United States was 24.1 million acres, according to the USDA.
GMO Wheat Gains A Foothold
In total, there are seven different types of wheat grown in the U.S. today – hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, soft white, hard white winter, hard white spring and durum.
Currently, none of the seven types is based on any genetic modification. But that could change with the USDA’s decision this past August to give a green light to the commercial production of HB4 wheat.
HB4 is a genetically modified wheat variety developed by Bioceres Crop Solutions and features a trait for drought tolerance.
The U.S. joins Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay in authorizing HB4 wheat, which could mark a significant shift in the landscape of wheat production.
Although USDA’s ruling clears the regulatory pathway for cultivation of HB4 wheat in the United States, there are several additional steps needed before HB4 is grown commercially in the United States. These include the need to conduct closed-system field trials prior to commercialization.
U.S. Wheat Associates said in August the organization will continue monitoring Bioceres’ commercialization plans to ensure careful stewardship and alignment with the “Wheat Industry Principles for Biotechnology Commercialization” developed jointly with the National Association of Wheat Growers.
Source: AGWEB