b'A look at seed industry developments around the globe.India changes theirSTATUS BRAZIL 100 billion yuan (about 15.6 bil- opens the door to new tech-regulations on gene editedOxitec Ltd. has announcedlion U.S. dollars) of loans fromniques, such as CRISPR, to be the successful conclusion2021 to 2025 to support theused in plant breeding.products being regulated asof the first farm-scale pilothigh-quality development ofWith this, India now has a GMOs, and the global graindeployments of its Friendlythe country\'s seed industry. separate regulatory process for fall armyworm on commercialThe bank said during thesuch technologies that takes supply is in question withBt cornfields in Brazil. Thefive-year period it will givethem out of the purview of the closure of Ukrainestechnology was approved thefinancial priority to tackling keyGenetic Engineering Appraisal Friendly fall armyworm in 2021. problems in the breeding ofCommittee or GEAC, said Black Sea ports. The pilot deploymentsrice, wheat, corn and soybeans,Bhagirath Choudhary of the were conducted on thousandsand support the developmentSouth Asia Biotechnology of acres of commercial farm- of competitive seed companiesCentre, an advocate for GM land in So Paulo State, a keyand the expansion of soybeantechnologies, in a news article corn-growing region in Brazil,and oilseed production. to the Hindustan Times. during the first annual cornADBC will also provideFor gene edited plants to crop season of 2021-2022.financial support to thebe released as a new vari-Oxitec announced that thedevelopment of nationalety, they will still be subject deployments have successfullyseed breeding and produc- to further development and validated the performance oftion bases as well as breed- evaluation, per the Ministry the Friendly fall armyworming bases for pigs, cows andof Environment, Forest and solution in an open field, farmwaterfowl. Climate Changes release.settings. The Friendly fall army-worm can reduce populations of fall armyworm (FAW) andSTATUS INDIA STATUS JAPANprovide long-term protectionOn March 31, the MinistryA food safety and security of the effectiveness of biotechof Environment, Forest andexpert in Japan has recently crops against this devastatingClimate Change of Indiawritten about genome editing crop pest. revised its rules concerning theand genetically modified (GM) A peer-reviewed studyapplications of gene editing incrops in an effort to explain shows that Oxitecs Friendlyagriculture. The ruling statesrisk communication. Takeshi Fall Armyworm technol- gene editing will be excludedYamazaki, chairman of the NPO ogy describes early researchfrom the GMO classification. Society for the Science of Food conducted in the developmentThe ruling concerns a regu- Safety and Security (SFSS) said of Oxitecs Friendly fall army- lation called the Manufacture,that GM and genome-edited worm, including the resultsUse, Import, Export andcrops are safer than wild or of in-depth mathematicalStorage of Hazardousconventional varieties.modeling showing that whenMicroorganisms/GeneticallyThe expert said that male moths are deployed, theEngineered Organisms ofcomparing GM and genome-development of biotech corn- Cells, dated December 5, 1989.editing crops with "natural" resistant FAW is significantlyThe Ministry recommendedseems safe at first glance, delayed, leading to sustainedthat genome edited productsbut it is rather the opposite FAW management over aunder the labels SDN1 andfor food safety experts. GM much longer period. SDN2 free from exogenousor genome-edited crops are Source: ISAAA introduced DNA be exemptedsafer than conventional or wild from biosafety assessmentsvarieties, with significantly located in Rule 20. improved taste and yield. He STATUS CHINA In laymens terms, genealso said that it is an undeni-Agricultural Developmentedited products with the classi- able fact that current agricul-Bank of China (ADBC), onefications SDN1 or SDN2 will nottural products that people of the country\'s three policybe treated as other transgenicthink are conventionally bred banks, will issue no less thanproducts. This potentiallyhave genes that have been 74/ SEEDWORLD.COMJUNE 2022'