Reuters reports, Brazil has approved the commercial use of genetically engineered sugarcane. Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira developed it and made the application seeking approval in December of 2015, Chief Executive Officer Gustavo Leite told Reuters.
The crop was bred to be resistant to the insect Diatraea saccharalis, known locally as the cane borer. According to Reuters, the cane borer is responsible for an estimated $1.52 billion in annual losses for producers. The cane has been modified with genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (or BT). This adds sugarcane into the list of GE crops that have been modified with BT genes.
It will likely take some time before the sugarcane is widely adopted by sugarcane growers. According to Leite it may take 10 years.Brazil has about 10 million hectares of sugarcane fields and potential to plant GM cane in up to 15 percent of this area, Leite said. Brazil exports sugar to about 150 countries and some 60 percent of them do not demand regulatory approval to import sugar made from genetically modified organisms. In the future CTC intends to introduce traits that will make sugarcane tolerant to another insect and a herbicide, Leite said.