Argentina is one of the largest grain producers in the world. In recent years it has suffered not only from economic hardship that brought it to the brink of bankruptcy, but also from an unprecedented drought, which in turn caused significant difficulties in agricultural production, exacerbating the country’s economic problem.
Now Argentina is enlisting biotechnology to solve the problem. The new, genetically modified grain variety HB4 cannot of course fight drought, but it can make the plant more resistant.
Biotechnologists in Argentina have genetically modified wheat to make it more resistant. In addition, they have implanted a sunflower gene into it, making it better adapted to drought. This results in higher yields, even in arable land with less rainfall.
In Argentina, they have developed the new variety together with the biotechnology company Bioceres and the state scientific group Conicet. Executives of the two companies argue that such a resistant variety of wheat can offer solutions in times of food crisis and state that the goal of the Bioceres business is to export the variety to as many foreign markets as possible.
In this way they use the findings of science to ensure food sufficiency. Today more than 800 million people around the world are malnourished, while many others do not get enough nutrients.
