EPA to reassess risk of

IN BRIEF

INDIA: The government has rejected calls to extend the import date for shipments of 1.2M tonnes of genetically modified (GM) soyabean meal beyond 31 January, AgriCensus reported.

New Delhi had announced in August that it would allow the imports to compensate for a supply shortage and to regulate domestic prices, and the poultry industry had lobbied to extend the date of shipments to 31 March.

However, the Soybean Processors Association had opposed the extension, arguing that there was now adequate domestic supply, AgriCensus wrote.

ITALY: Belgian agricultural technology firm Biotalys said on 12 January that it had entered a partnership with Italy's Olon to produce its new bio-fungicide, Evoca.

Olon would produce Evoca’s active ingredient at its biotech manufacturing sites in Capua and Settimo Torinese.

Biotalys said Evoca – the first protein-based biocontrol in its portfolio – was aimed at providing growers with a new rotation partner in integrated pest management (IPM) programmes and helped control diseases such as Botrytis and powdery mildew, reducing the dependency on chemical pesticides.

Evoca is pending registration in the USA and Europe and is not currently on sale.

EPA to reassess risk of dicamba to other crops

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is assessing if dicamba herbicide can be sprayed on soyabean and cotton plants genetically engineered to resist the chemical, without posing “unreasonable risks” to other crops, according to an Insurance Journal report.

Farmers and scientists had reported problems with dicamba drifting away from where it was sprayed on fields, causing damage to plants whose genes had not been modified to resist the weedkiller, the 22 December report said.

In 2021, the EPA said it had received about 3,500 reports that more than 404,685ha of non-dicamba-tolerant soyabean crops had allegedly been damaged when the chemical drifted from where it was applied. Trees and crops including rice and grapes also suffered damage.

“Right now we don’t know whether overthe-top dicamba can be used in a manner that doesn’t pose unreasonable risks to non-target crops and other plants,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’S Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention said.

Any regulatory changes would probably not be fully implemented by the 2022 growing season, the EPA said, adding that it would work with states that wanted to impose further restrictions.

A US appeals court had blocked dicamba sales in June 2020, ruling that the EPA had substantially understated risks related to its use. Four months later, the EPA – under former US president Donald Trump – re-authorised the use of dicamba-based weedkillers with new restrictions, invalidating the court ruling, the report said.

China set to approve more GM corn

The Chinese leadership is planning to approve more genetically modified (GM) corn varieties produced by domestic companies, Reuters reported the country’s agriculture ministry as saying.

At the end of 2021, Beijing proposed an overhaul of regulatory seed rules to pave the way for approval of GM crops, with top policy-makers urging progress in biotech breeding, the 28 December report said.

The three new corn products include ND207 produced by China National Tree Seed Corp and China Agricultural University; Zheda Ruifeng 8 made by Hangzhou Ruifeng Biotech Co; and DBN3601Tfrom Beijing Dabeinong Biotechnology Co, according to a notice posted on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Safety approval was viewed as a major step towards the commercialisation of GM crops, Reuters wrote, but it was still unclear when the new products would be ready for market launch.

To date, Beijing does not permit the planting of GM soya or corn varieties but allows their import for animal feed.

Calyxt says seedless hemp offered improved yields and quality Plans to approve three new GM corn varieties and seven new GM cotton crops have been open for public comment until 17 January

Supreme Court seeks Biden view on Bayer weedkiller appeal

The US Supreme Court has asked president Joe Biden’s administration for its views on whether to hear a bid by German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Bayer to dismiss claims by customers who claim its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, Insurance Journal wrote on 13 December.

Bayer has faced billions of dollars worth of Roundup-related lawsuits since acquiring the brand as part of its US$63bn purchase of agricultural seeds and pesticides company Monsanto in 2018.

In August 2021, it filed a petition with the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that upheld US$25M in damages awarded to California resident Edwin Hardeman, a Roundup user who blamed his cancer on the glyphosate-based herbicide.

US solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar is due to file a brief expressing the administration’s views in the coming months, according to the Insurance Journal report.

Bayer said it was encouraged by the court’s announcement, which often indicated that the justices were interested in hearing a case, the report said.

Facing more than 25,000 related unsettled claims, Bayer said that the cancer claims over Roundup and glyphosate went against sound science and product clearance from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).