Thread by @GRAIN_org

More and more govts - #Nigeria #Brazil #Colombia #Australia #NZ - are approving a drought-resistant #GMwheat called #HB4. Produced by Argentine corporation #Bioceres, it will be used for food & animal feed. Given today’s food & climate crises, urgent action is needed. 🧵 1/8

#HB4wheat, together with #GoldenRice and #newGMOs, is part of an industry push to weaken and dodge biosafety rules, while increasing corporate control over #seeds. Here’s how this is playing out in Asia: grain.org/e/6863 2/8

Wheat and rice are not yet fully colonised by the #seedindustry, because farmers can save and replant those seeds. They are also key staple foods in many global South countries, at the centre of today’s rising #food prices. 3/8

If farmers use #HB4wheat, they will have to adopt a technical package including direct seeding and intensive use of agrochemicals, which cause severe social and environmental damage. 4/8
📸 LiLong/VCG/Getty

But there is more: #HB4wheat is engineered to tolerate #glufosinate ammonium. This herbicide compound is much more toxic than #glyphosate, and will be present in basic foods consumed daily. 5/8
biodiversidadla.org/Recomendamos/D…

With #HB4wheat, the food supply will be rapidly contaminated. Wheat is self-fertile, meaning it reproduces itself, but it can cross-pollinate at a rate of up to 14%. This means that HB4 genes will spread to other wheat varieties. 6/8 grain.org/e/6726

In #Bioceres’ homeland, as well as in nearby #Brazil, farmers, social and environmental organisations and committed scientists are fighting hard to stop #HB4wheat. 7/8
biodiversidadla.org/Agencia-de-Not…

In July 2022, a judge issued a precautionary measure that prohibits the release & use of #HB4wheat in Buenos Aires. This measure should be upheld and taken into account in other countries as well. 8/8
biodiversidadla.org/Recomendamos/P…