By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Plant genetics company GDM has applied to register 13 varieties of soybean plants in South Africa after the country approved the use of a new genetically modified seed technology. changed, the company’s executives announced on Monday.

GDM is based in Argentina but makes most of its sales from neighboring Brazil, where the same technology has been used since 2014.

Three of the 13 materials are expected to be pre-launched this year, as the company hopes to bolster its South African business and prepare for forays into the region.

“Our goal is that by 2027, more than 50% of the area planted with soybeans in South Africa will contain our genetics,” said Thiago Schwonka, the company’s commercial director for Africa, Asia and Europe.

The GDM strategy reflects the recent push by African governments to tackle food insecurity by attracting plant genetics companies.

Schwonka noted that while South Africa is the only African country that recognizes intellectual property for autogamous or autogamous plants, other countries are eager to modernize their patent laws and join the International Union for the Protection plant varieties (UPOV) . .

The 13 materials that GDM plans to register in South Africa incorporate Bayer’s INTACTA RR2 PRO GMO seed technology, designed to help soybean plants resist caterpillars and the herbicide glyphosate.

South Africa approved the technology in 2021, according to GDM. (Report by Ana Mano edited in Spanish by Javier López de Lérida)

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