SASKATOON Ð Japan has approved using herbicide resistant canola in foods, paving the way for big increases in acreage for the new varieties next year.
Monsanto, which produces Roundup Ready canola and AgrEvo, maker of Liberty Link varieties, expect all major markets for Canadian canola will accept the genetically altered seed by next year.
“I would anticipate over the next couple of years they will be a major percentage of canola acres in Western Canada,” said Steve Meister, AgrEvo communications manager in Regina.
Monsanto’s product was grown on about 50,000 acres this year, while Meister said AgrEvo’s product saw “a fair increase over 1995, which was 40,000.”
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The canola industry had been slightly on edge for the past two years since Canada and the U.S. approved the use of herbicide resistant canola in food, but Japan and other major markets had not approved its importation.
Identity preserved system
To guarantee genetically altered seed didn’t get mixed with standard seed marked for shipment overseas, the crop was produced under an identity preserved contract system.
“They have a way of detecting transgenic canola in Japan now and once that technology was available, there was much more pressure on exporters because they would be liable if any transgenic material got in the sample,” said Tracy Johnston, market development co-ordinator with the Canola Council of Canada.
“If they lost the trust of the customer, well, they could always go to Australia.”
But now, the new product might help Canada to keep Japan’s business, said Gord Froehlich, Monsanto’s manager of Roundup ready crops.
The biggest benefit for farmers will be lower cost and more effective weed control, he said.
And if the crop doesn’t have to compete against hard to control weeds, the yield improves.
“We are seeing in the research trials we have out so far is anywhere from 10 to 15 percent increase in yield due to better weed control,” he said.
Supply questioned
Froehlich noted Japan has been questioning for several years Canada’s long-term ability to meet canola demand.
“By allowing the farmer to get better weed control and higher yields, we can increase Canada’s supply of canola without increasing the acreage.”
Meister said conservation-minded farmers won’t have to till in the spring to incorporate herbicides.
But the biggest benefit hailed by many in the industry is a system to regulate such new products in the future.
“The system worldwide is more clearly laid out. This is the first of a long line of innovations that will include increased yield, increased disease and insect resistance, increased agronomic characteristics. And down the road there will be changes in amino acid balance in the case of canola or changes in starch content,” he said.
Meister was happy the Japanese decided to base their decision on a system similar to those in Canada and the United States.
The system looks at the end product and whether it is materially different than the natural food, rather than making evaluation on the process that created it.
The system is more complicated in the European Union, another major importer of Canadian canola. Although it has approved herbicide resistant soybeans, it has not yet approved herbicide resistant canola for food use.
