MAY 2026 | SEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE I SEED WORLD EUROPE I 47 with AAFC varieties annually, according to the report. In 2025, AAFC varieties accounted for 90% of Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS) acres, 64% of Canadian Western Amber Durum (CWAD), and 69% of Canada Prairie Spring (CPS) wheat acres. The top four CWRS varieties planted in 2025 — AAC Brandon, AAC Wheatland, AAC Starbuck and AAC Viewfield — were all developed through AAFC’s Swift Current breeding program. The report concludes that Western Canada’s wheat breeding innovation system must be reimagined to close funding and capacity gaps while protecting farmers’ long-term investments. STATUS COLUMBIA A new study finds that by 2050 nearly 20% of Colombia’s cur rent cocoa-growing areas could lose suitable climate conditions, particularly in lowland regions of the Caribbean and northeastern departments. Using climate projections and crop data, researchers show that rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns may reduce yields and increase risks for farmers. At the same time, some higher-altitude areas are expected to become more suitable, indicat ing a likely geographic shift in cocoa production. The study also highlights the role of wild cocoa as a source of genetic traits for adaptation, as these populations may carry resilience to extreme conditions. The findings point to the need for targeted land-use planning and adaptation strategies, including agroforestry, irrigation, and crop diversification. They also empha size the importance of conserving forest ecosystems and improving access to climate information to support long-term sustainability in Colombia’s cocoa sector. STATUS PERU Peru’s Ministry of the Environment has approved new guidelines for determining whether organisms developed with emerging biotechnological tools, including gene editing techniques such as CRISPR, should be classified as Modified Living Organisms under existing law. Enacted through Ministerial Resolution No. D000068-2026-MINAM-DM, the measure establishes scientific and regulatory criteria for evaluating these products on a case-by- case basis. The aim is to modernize Peru’s biosafety framework and provide a clearer process for distinguishing between different types of genetic changes, particularly those that do not involve foreign DNA. The new guidelines come while Peru’s moratorium on the cultivation of transgenic organisms remains in force until 2035. According to the government, the framework is intended to give research institutions, universities, and companies greater legal cer tainty while supporting the evaluation of new genomic techniques in agriculture. The measure could affect crops important to both domestic production and exports, including potatoes, rice, blueber ries, grapes, avocados, and asparagus. Peru’s decision also aligns with a broader international trend toward regulating gene-edited organ isms separately from traditional genetically modified organisms.
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