March 21, 2005

Argentina approves new type of corn seed

Argentina on Friday approved the sale of a new type of corn seed that should allow farmers to harvest the crop in more parts of the country and eventually help to boost production, the Agriculture Secretariat said in a statement.

The seed, marketed under the trademark Herculex 1, should enable farmers to successfully plant corn in northern Argentina, where certain insects have made this difficult in the past.

"This will foment the diversification of areas planted with corn, making it possible to increase production in the northwest and northeast," said Gustavo Idigoras, Argentina's Agricultural Councilor in the European Union.

The EU, a large importer of Argentine corn, is currently evaluating approval of the seed, which was designed by Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer Hi-Bred International. However, Idigoras said the EU is likely to approve the seed soon.

"This seed has the European Food Security Agency's approval and should be approved by the European Commission by July," he said.

Argentina, the world's No. 2 corn exporter, will produce 19.5 million tonnes of corn in 2004-05, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The nation will export about 14 million tonnes during this period, says the USDA.

Argentina is the second-leading producer of genetically modified crops, behind the US.

Around 95 percent of the nation's soybeans are planted with modified seeds while officials estimate that about half of the corn is planted with hybrid seeds.