(Photo: Secretary Etchevehere heading the Cotton Table)

Buenos Aires, February 6th. The secretary of Ag-Industry, Mr. Luis Miguel Etchevehere, announced today the release of a new GMO cotton trait. It is that confers the crop tolerance to the isoxaflutole and mesotrione herbicides, plus glyphosate tolerance.

Mr. Etchevehere remarked that this trait is already approved in Brazil, and that it will permit to local farmers a better control of herbicide-resistant weeds. The secretary stressed that this approval reduces the technological gap between Argentinean and Brazilian farmers. “We had four traits approved for cotton, but only one is currently commercialized”, the official said.

The new trait that stacks tolerance to the HPPD-type herbicides over the glyphosate one, will be commercialize by BASF. “The company adds technology to our country, diversifies the offer and promotes competiveness of our farmers”, the Secretary said.

In a meeting with the Cotton Table, where representatives of the cotton chain discusse about the future of the crop, Mr. Etchevehere announced that in the next months other traits will be release.

In dialogue with www.eFarmNewsAr.com, the chairman of Gensus, the only one cotton breeding company in the country, Mr. Pablo Vaquero explained that this will be a quadruple stack that confers cotton resistance to herbicides and insects, also property of BASF company.

“This GMO cotton was approved last year in Brazil. We hope that BASF launches this technology in our country too. “It is much relevant for our cotton chain that BASF, that purchased the cotton unit business from Bayer, be committed with the crop and the country”, Mr. Vaquero opined.