Biotechnology products

Plant products of biotechnology have been available in the market for some time now. These modified crops look like their traditional counterparts, but they possess special characteristics that make them better. These crops benefit both farmers and consumers. Farmers gain higher crop yields and have increased flexibility in management practices while consumers have “healthier crops” (i.e., crops grown with fewer pesticides and/or with healthier nutritional characteristics).

Plant products of biotechnology approved for food use have been modified to contain traits such as:

• Insect resistance
• Disease resistance
• Herbicide tolerance
• Altered nutritional profile
• Enhanced storage life

Examples of plant products of biotechnology

PRODUCT	TRAIT
Alfalfa	Herbicide tolerance
Bean	Virus disease resistance
Canola	Herbicide tolerance, modified product quality, pollination control system
Cotton	Herbicide tolerance, insect resistance
Flax, Linseed
Maize	Abiotic stress tolerance, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, modified product quality, pollination control system
Melon	Delayed ripening
Papaya	Disease resistance
Plum
Potato	Disease resistance, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, modified product quality
Rice	Herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, modified product quality
Soybean
Squash
Sugar Beet
Tomato	Disease resistance, insect resistance, modified product quality
Wheat

Biotech Soybean

Soybean is the oil crop of greatest economic relevance in the world. Its beans contain proportionally more essential amino acids than meat, thus making it one of the most important food crops today. Processed soybeans are important ingredients in many food products.

Herbicide-tolerant soybean

Herbicide tolerant soybean varieties contain a gene that provides resistance to one of two broad spectrum herbicides.

This modified soybean provides better weed control and reduces crop injury. It also improves farm efficiency by optimizing yield, using arable land more efficiently, saving time for the farmer, and increasing the flexibility of crop rotation. It also encourages the adoption of no-till farming-an important part of soil conservation practice.

These varieties are the same as other soybeans in nutrition, composition, and in the way they are processed into food and feed. * Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, European Union (EU), Mexico, Paraguay, South Africa, Taiwan, United States of America (USA), and Uruguay are planting countries, while Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey are importing countries.