Dive Brief:
- In the U.S., more grain elevators, mills, and feedlots have decided to allow Syngenta AG's Agrisure Duracade trait, more than doubling from 672 to 1,652 within the last seven months.
- Syngenta hopes to expand this GMO corn strain by enabling farmers to feel more comfortable that they will not be hindered by having too few buyers for their Duracade crops available.
- As for international news, after an approximately six-year trial in India, GMO corn, not currently allowed in the country, is near its final phase, and Monsanto's Indian subsidiary plans to share those results with the Indian government as a new strategy for expanding crops in the country.
Dive Insight:
GMO seeds, particularly corn, are gaining steam in both the U.S. and the world. Some farmers see the financial benefits of growing the breadth of their crops with these seeds, and some note that this could be a way to alleviate food insecurity as the world population continues to grow. Late last year, China approved Syngenta's Viptera GMO corn strain, and as a result, Cargill now allows farmers to plant Viptera, previously suing Syngenta for significant financial losses because of China's original Viptera ban.
On the other hand, controversy still surrounds GMO products across the world, particularly in the U.S. Hershey is another company planning to stop using GMO ingredients in two of its own products. This announcement came soon after Hershey said it would be switching to "simpler," more natural ingredients in its products as well.