Embrapa identifica gen silvestre de cacahuete que prepara la defensa en cultivos
Investigaciones de Embrapa demuestran que genes de maníes silvestres pueden aumentar la resistencia del maní cultivado a sequía, nematodos y hongos. El gen AdEXLB8 activa la “preparación defensiva”, permitiendo respuestas más rápidas al estrés sin afectar rendimiento. Esta biotecnología basada en biodiversidad impulsa el mejoramiento sostenible y reduce el uso de agroquímicos.
Multi-Herbicide-Tolerant GM Soybean Passes EFSA Safety Assessment
EFSA’s GMO Panel has issued a positive safety opinion on GM soybean MON 94313 for food and feed, finding it as safe as conventional and non-GM varieties for human and animal health and the environment. MON 94313 tolerates dicamba, glufosinate, 2,4-D and mesotrione. EFSA found no toxicity or allergenicity concerns, and no need for post-market monitoring.
Watermelon in the Lab and the Field: Breeding the Perfect Bite
Modern watermelon breeding has evolved from boosting yield and sweetness to optimizing the entire value chain. Driven by seedless demand, fresh-cut growth, and quality-focused European markets, breeders now balance flavor, texture, shelf life, transport resilience, and convenience. In this Seed World Europe feature, leading breeders explain how genetics, technology, and long-term investment are reshaping watermelon to meet grower, retailer, and consumer expectations.
Seed Health and Regulatory Risk: Protecting R&D Timelines in a Complex Global Market
Seed innovation stalls less from science than from phytosanitary and regulatory uncertainty. R&D and regulatory leaders must anticipate policy shifts, avoid testing duplication, protect planting windows, and prevent trial or shipment delays. Integrating seed health expertise early improves predictability and speeds commercialization. Systems like the National Seed Health System and ASTA Phytosanitary Committee support industry by aligning science with regulation, flagging emerging risks, and enabling proactive, confident market access decisions.
Could a New Pipeline Help Scientists Spot Plant Pathogens Faster?
Researchers in Oregon say yes. They have built an open-source pipeline that identifies pathogens in minutes, helping agriculture respond faster to emerging threats. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]
La carrera por la regulación está redefiniendo la innovación en semillas
La edición genética en semillas ya es una realidad en ensayos, regulación y mercado. El debate se centra ahora en cómo las políticas públicas definirán quién puede innovar. Marcos regulatorios ágiles, como en Latinoamérica, aceleran el fitomejoramiento, mientras regulaciones costosas pueden concentrar la innovación y limitar la diversidad empresarial y de cultivos.
Low-Cost NIR tech speeds coffee authentication and traceability
Research by Embrapa Rondônia shows near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) can rapidly and cheaply identify coffee origin and detect adulteration. The non-destructive method creates chemical “fingerprints” to verify terroir, reinforce geographical indications, and combat fraud. Validated for Brazilian coffee, NIR supports quality certification, traceability, and access to specialty markets.
Gene Discovery Could Unlock New Era of Barley Breeding
Scientists at The James Hutton Institute have identified HvST1, a “Sticky Telomeres 1” gene that boosts genetic recombination in barley. Mutations reduced chromosome ‘stickiness’ during meiosis, unlocking genome regions and giving breeders more flexibility to combine traits like drought and disease resistance. The discovery, linked to the International Barley Hub, could speed barley development and inform strategies in other crops.
EU–UK SPS Chapter Negotiations: The Seed Trade Reset We Can’t Afford to Botch
After years of post-Brexit disruption, EU–UK SPS negotiations offer a critical chance to simplify seed trade. Reduced border delays, regulatory alignment, and greater predictability could cut costs and restore efficiency. Euroseeds warns success depends on meaningful coverage for seed, mutual recognition, and active industry engagement to avoid complexity persisting in practice.
CSGA Warns AAFC Research Facility Closures Will Hurt Canadian Crop Innovation
The Canadian Seed Growers’ Association says shutting seven federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research sites threatens seed development
Syngenta Canada Launches Equento Cereals Seed Treatment for Wireworm Control in Western Canada
New product combines contact and systemic activity with a six-active-ingredient package for insect and disease protection in cereal crops. Syngenta Canada Inc. has introduced Equento Cereals, a new seed treatment designed […]
Powdery Mildew Outsmarts Wheat by Masking Key Effector Signal
University of Zurich scientists uncovered how wheat powdery mildew can bypass genetic resistance without losing its key effector AvrPm4. The fungus deploys a second effector that masks AvrPm4 from the Pm4 resistance protein, yet this suppressor is itself detectable by another wheat resistance gene. Stacking both genes could trap the pathogen and improve durable, low-fungicide wheat protection.
Plant Breeders Are Like Musicians
Private plant breeding companies often separate R&D and breeding, limiting breeders to production-focused cycles rather than experimentation. This reduces innovation and undervalues breeder expertise. Like musicians restricted to one genre, breeders are told to hand ideas to R&D instead of testing them directly. Integrating R&D with breeding can accelerate discovery, improve varieties, and strengthen competitive advantage in seed companies.
Cuando el fitomejoramiento se reduce a tocar una sola nota
Las empresas privadas de mejoramiento vegetal suelen separar I+D y mejoramiento, limitando a los fitomejoradores a ciclos intensivos en lugar de experimentación. Esto reduce la innovación y subestima su experiencia. Como músicos restringidos a un solo género, los mejoradores deben entregar ideas a I+D en vez de probarlas. Integrar I+D y mejoramiento acelera hallazgos, mejora variedades y fortalece la ventaja competitiva.
Turning Data into Decisions: KWS-NoMaze Partnership Drives Innovation in Plant Breeding
In plant breeding, data abundance is no longer the challenge—decision speed is. A long-term partnership between KWS and AI agritech NoMaze shows how embedded, intuitive analytics transform complex breeding data into faster, confident decisions. By integrating AI-driven decision support into daily workflows, breeders gain clarity, scalability, and operational intelligence to deliver resilient, high-performing seeds faster.
$2M Grant Backs AI Initiative to Protect Crops from Disease
The Sainsbury Laboratory has secured $2 million from Google.org’s $20 million AI for Science Fund to launch Bifrost, led by Professor Sophien Kamoun. Using DeepMind’s AlphaFold3, Bifrost will predict plant immune receptor–pathogen interactions from genome sequences to speed breeding of disease-resistant crops. Open-source tools and datasets will support global collaboration and reduce reliance on chemical pesticides in climate-stressed farming systems.
Tecnología NIR de bajo costo acelera la autenticación y trazabilidad del café
Investigaciones de Embrapa Rondônia demuestran que la espectroscopía de infrarrojo cercano (NIR) permite identificar rápidamente el origen del café y detectar adulteraciones a bajo costo. El método no destructivo genera “huellas químicas” del grano, refuerza indicaciones geográficas y combate fraudes. Validada para café brasileño, la técnica mejora trazabilidad, certificación y acceso a mercados de especialidad.
What’s Wrong With International Governance These Days?
International agreements born in the 1990s era of globalization shaped trade, climate, and biodiversity governance through multilateral cooperation. Three decades later, rising geopolitical tensions, stalled COPs, and growing lobbying have weakened progress. The article argues for smaller, trust-based coalitions outside major forums to revive collaboration, deliver solutions, and strengthen global governance beyond the COP “circus.”
Joint Actions, Resilient Futures: The Global Seed Community’s Next Chapter Unfolds in Lisbon
Seed sits at the center of food security, sustainable agriculture, and global trade transformation. The ISF World Seed Congress 2026 in Lisbon brings together seed and plant breeding leaders to address climate volatility, innovation, regulation, and markets. Under the theme “Joint Actions, Resilient Futures,” the Congress advances collaboration to build resilient, science-based seed systems worldwide.
Editing Gluten Without Breaking Bread
UC Davis researchers are advancing wheat by removing its most reactive gluten proteins and maintaining dough strength, unlocking new potential for performance and health. For decades, gluten has been central […]
How Common Are Gluten-Related Disorders? The Numbers Tell the Story
Celiac disease and other gluten-related disorders affect millions of people worldwide, yet many cases remain undiagnosed. In the United States, an estimated 1% of the population has celiac disease, with research showing global prevalence rates of roughly 0.7% to 1.4%. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity may be even more widespread, with estimates ranging from 1% to 13%. Because gluten exposure can trigger serious autoimmune damage and long-term health complications, growing awareness of these conditions is driving demand for innovation, including emerging advances like edited wheat lines being developed at UC Davis.
Meet Ag’s Power Duo: Chitosan and Microbes
Some of the most important battles a crop fights happen before it ever sees daylight. Cold soils, salt stress, and early-season pathogens all collide at the seed, and the outcome […]
INTA and Palo Verde launch three new alfalfa cultivars
INTA and Palo Verde introduced three new alfalfa varieties in Córdoba after 13 years of joint R&D. Amaya PV INTA targets high-quality hay, Kumen PV INTA improves productivity in saline soils, and Maltetén PV INTA reduces bloat risk under grazing. The releases strengthen forage options for diverse livestock systems and environments across Argentina.
“One Hybrid Fits All’ and Other Crazy Things You’d Never Say to a Farmer
Biologicals aren’t interchangeable—and the market signals it. Just as farmers don’t treat all hybrids as equal, biologicals deserve performance-based evaluation tied to fit, conditions, and repeatability. Today’s advantage isn’t “biology,” but precision: strain identification, purpose-built collections, clearer modes of action, better formulation and delivery, and consistent field results. Differentiation builds trust, improves placement, and accelerates adoption.
The Future of IP in the Regulation of NGTs
The EU has reached a provisional agreement on New Genomic Techniques regulation, classifying Category 1 NGT plants as equivalent to conventional breeding and outside GMO rules. The framework increases transparency around patents, mandates disclosure, and launches reviews on intellectual property impacts, aiming to balance innovation, fair access, and competitiveness in the European plant breeding sector.
CFIA Job Cuts Confirmed as Ottawa Targets $235M in Savings
The agency has confirmed 587 job cuts while unions say austerity measures could weaken food safety inspections, research, and emergency response capacity. It’s not yet known what effect, if any, […]
What we Know So Far About the Reported Cuts to AAFC Staffing, Research Stations
AAFC has publicly announced that seven research stations will be shut down as part of a planned workforce reduction
What AAFC Research Station Closures Could Mean for Canadian Seed Innovation
The impact won’t show up tomorrow, but five to 10 years from now, farmers may feel it in lost yield gains and weak disease packages
The Regulation Race Is Redrawing Seed Innovation
Gene editing is accelerating plant breeding across crops and regions, but global regulatory frameworks may determine who gets to innovate. In a recent webinar, regulatory veteran Daniel Jenkins explains how policy decisions in Latin America, Europe and beyond are shaping the future of seed innovation.
Europe’s Fields May Dry Out More — Even With Higher Rainfall
University of Reading research published in Nature Geoscience (14 January 2026) warns Europe and western North America will face more frequent, intense crop droughts as warming accelerates soil moisture loss, even where annual rainfall rises. The study maps growing-season drought hotspots and shows dry springs raise summer drought risk. Findings underscore urgent needs for drought-tolerant crops and improved water management.
INTA y Palo Verde lanzan tres nuevos cultivares de alfalfa
INTA y Palo Verde presentaron tres nuevas variedades de alfalfa en Córdoba tras 13 años de investigación conjunta. Amaya PV INTA se orienta a heno de alta calidad, Kumen PV INTA tolera suelos salinos y Maltetén PV INTA reduce el riesgo de empaste en pastoreo. Los materiales amplían soluciones forrajeras para sistemas ganaderos diversos en Argentina.
Feeding Pigs Smarter: How Hybrid Rye Is Changing Danish Farming
Hybrid rye is transforming Danish pig production by improving feed efficiency, animal welfare, and sustainability. In this KWS Seed World Visits episode, farmers and experts show how rye performs on poor soils, supports calmer pigs and healthier digestion, and enables 60–70% inclusion in feed. Learn how it can cut nitrogen up to 25%, water 20%, and CO₂ by 70 kg per ton.
Alberta MLA Urges Action After AAFC Layoffs Threaten Lacombe-Area Ag Research
With 112 positions expected to be cut locally, Jennifer Johnson says commissions and associations must unite and push for a reversal
Plant Breeding Innovation Clears Next Hurdle for EU NGT Framework
Euroseeds welcomes the ENVI committee’s strong approval of the NGT Regulation compromise text, moving the EU closer to a modern framework for new genomic techniques. Council confirmation is expected in February or early March, followed by final ENVI and plenary votes likely in April, paving the way for timely implementation to support European agriculture, competitiveness, and food security.
Chile proposes resolution to evaluate New Breeding Techniques in crops
Chile is strengthening responsible agricultural biotechnology with a draft SAG resolution formalizing how New Breeding Techniques (NBT) plant materials are assessed before field use. The case-by-case process distinguishes NBT products from transgenic GMOs, boosting legal certainty, transparency, oversight, and safeguards. A 60-day public consultation is open, supporting innovation for climate resilience, nutrition, and sustainable food production in Chile.
Seeds of Change, Part II – Breeding, Footprints and Future Pathways
In Part 2 of Seed World Europe’s Seeds of Change series, leaders from Bayer, Semillas Fitó, RiceTec and Syngenta explain how sustainability in the seed sector goes beyond field traits to include operations, culture and collaboration. Through shared action under ISF’s ESR-CG, companies are aligning breeding innovation, measurable targets and internal practices to deliver more productive, responsible and climate-resilient agriculture.