Factbox: China approves new GMO soybean, corn and canola traits

China approved five genetically modified (GM) crops for import on Tuesday, the first in about 18 months, as representatives from the Asian country and the United States met in face-to-face talks to try to resolve trade disagreements.

Some, including two canola varieties, have been waiting approval for six years. Others, like DowDuPont Inc`s Enlist E3 soybeans, are more recent and were developed to challenge the historic dominance of Monsanto Co, now owned by Germany`s Bayer, of the $40 billion U.S. soybean market.

U.S. farmers will not plant soybean seeds in large quantities unless they are approved by China, which until the trade war imported 60 percent of U.S. soybeans.

Below are the seed traits approved, their trade names and the companies that make them. DAS-44405-6, known as Enlist E3 soybeans. Manufactured by DowDuPont, they are bred to resist glyphosate, glufosinate and 2,4-D for weed control and boosting yields.DP 4114, Qrome, also produced by DowDuPont, is a corn product resistant to glufosinate and designed to protect against insects and increase yields.SYHT0H2 soybean developed by Bayer Crop Science and Syngenta but now held by German Chemical company BASF. It is resistant to the herbicides glufosinate and Mesotrione, according to the biotech group ISAAA.Bayer-owned Monsanto`s 88302 canola variety is tolerant to glyphosate during the reproductive flowering phase. It promised better control of certain tough weeds and a wider application window, according to a Bayer statement on Tuesday. It will be available this year to Canadian and U.S. farmers, and Bayer estimates 1 million planted acres in 2019.

BASF`s RF3 canola seeds are tolerant of Liberty glufosinate, an herbicide, according to the Canola Council of Canada.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)