b'INDUSTRY NEWSTAILORED TO SEED PROFESSIONALS, INDUSTRY NEWS DELIVERS THE PEOPLE, RESEARCH, BUSINESS AND PRODUCT NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW. SUBMISSIONS ARE WELCOME. EMAIL US AT NEWS@SEEDWORLDGROUP.COM.New legislation will be put in place to cut unnecessary red tape for gene editing, helping UK farmers to grow more resistant,On Jan. 6, Xiang Haitao, a Chinese national pleaded guilty nutritious and productive crops. The rule changes, made pos- to conspiracy to commit economic espionage, according to a sible by the UKs departure from the EU, will mean that scien- release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). According tists across England will be able to undertake plant-basedto court documents, Xiang conspired to steal a trade secret research and development, using genetic technologiesfrom Monsanto (now Bayer) for the purpose of benefitting the such as gene editing, more easily. The rules will apply to plantsPeoples Republic of China. Xiang pleaded guilty to one count where gene editing is used to create new varieties similar toof conspiracy to commit economic espionage. He is scheduled those which could have been produced more slowly throughto be sentenced on April 7. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 traditional breeding processes and will unlock research oppor- years in prison and a potential fee of $5 million.tunities to grow crops which are more nutritious, and which require less pesticide use.Benjamin (Ben) Rivoire will join ISF to take on the newly created role of Crop Value Chain Manager from 14 March 2022. Ben Corteva Agriscience has begun building a new Center ofhas many years of seed policy and industry experience. Before Seed Applied Technologies (CSAT) in southwest France.spending 10 years at UPOV, Ben worked eight years at Syngenta The Center in Aussonne is the first in Europe and the thirdSeeds and left in the position of Global Seed Production Manager worldwide. Expected to be operational in the first half of 2022, itCucurbits. In addition, he has experience in fresh vegetable and will focus on service development, with strong scientific invest- fruit production in several countries. He brings with him a broad ment that will be part of new seed treatment solutions to helpunderstanding of the seed sector and the international policy farmers meet the challenges of a changing agricultural sector.environment. Bayer announced the launch of Testing4Ag, a new programThe value of agricultural export in 2021 is estimated at which allows research scientists from around the world to submit104.7 billion euros, a record. This was reported by Wageningen novel chemistries to Bayer for testing in hopes of identifyingUniversity & Research (WUR) and Statistics Netherlands potential new modes of action to control fungal diseases, insect(CBS) on the basis of collaborative research commissioned by pests, or weeds. Testing4Ag, a part of Bayers Open4Ag partner- the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV). ship development and innovation approach, seeks to develop theAgricultural export in 2021 was 9 billion euros (9.4 per-newest generation of crop protection products that safely andcent) higher than in 2020. The growth of agricultural export can sustainably address the changing needs of producers. be attributed to price increases as well as a growth of the export volume. The related price increase was slightly larger than the volume growth. A variety of the fungus that causes the disease Phoma on oil-seed rape and other brassicas has been discovered in Europe for the first time, at sites in Southern England and NorthernUniversity of Adelaide scientists have developed a new Ireland. The Plenodomus biglobosus canadensis variant wassimple, inexpensive and fast method to detect and measure discovered last spring on wasabi plants, marking the first timevery low concentrations of agricultural lime in soils, which is the disease has been found on the vegetable. Another variant ofgenerally a time consuming and difficult exercise. PhD student the fungus, P. biglobosus brassicae was also discovered infect- and lead author of the study Ruby Hume, developed this method ing wasabi at a third site in the West Midlands. DNA analysis ofas part of a Department of Primary Industries and Regions cultures taken from the infected plants confirmed the identifica- (PIRSA)-led and Grains Research and Development Corporation-tion, said Rothamsted plant pathologist, Dr Kevin King. funded project, exploring novel approaches to address the issue of sub-surface soil acidification in South Australias cropping regions.MustGrow Biologics Corp. and Bayer have signed an Exclusive Agreement to evaluate MustGrows biological tech-nologies to determine efficacy and commercial potential in keyBASF is establishing a program that allows farmers to track and agricultural regions. Sustainable innovations and green technol- profit from practices reducing CO2 emissions, underlining ogies are necessary to ensure agricultural production continuesits efforts to contribute to fighting climate change. The Global to address food safety and security as well as soil health. ThisCarbon Farming Program, which will be launched in early 2022, agreement between Bayer and MustGrow further demonstrateswill support BASF Agricultural Solutions commitment to reduce the importance of innovation in sustainable technologies in agri- the carbon footprint per ton of crop produced by 30% by 2030 in cultural regions around the world. wheat, soy, rice, canola and corn.46IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'