Brazil: Biotech Sugarcane Awaits OK

Posted by Matt Hopkins|18 March 2008

Sugarcane that has been genetically modified for improved ethanol and sugar production is close to launch in Brazil, said several companies in a Reuters article.

While the science should be developed in 3 to 5 years, strict Brazilian biotechnology regulation could keep it off the market for as long as 7 years, according to two of Brazil’s leading biotech players, Alellyx Applied Genomics and Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC). They noted that scientists are field-testing biotech sugarcane varieties with higher sucrose yields than conventional alternatives.

Paulo Arruda, scientific director at Alellyx Applied Genomics, the developer of a variety being tested in fields, was said, “At this point, (the biotech sugarcane) is more a regulatory issue than a scientific issue. If there are no major regulation setbacks, our target is to launch our first (commercial) variety in 2013-2014.”

Brazil cleared commercial use of biotech soybean and cotton after passing a biosafety law in 2005, but it has taken until this February to approve any other genetically modified agricultural product.