(Bloomberg) -- Argentina’s crusade to overhaul global perceptions about genetically-modified wheat gained new ground as Australia, a top grower and exporter of the grain, approved the drought-tolerant strain HB4 for use in food.

The next step for Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp., the company that’s pushing to bring HB4 to the market around the world, is to get the green light for planting. The Argentina-based company is pursuing the same strategy to win acceptance in other countries.

Australia’s authorization, which also covers New Zealand, is a milestone for Bioceres because it’s the first major global supplier after Argentina to open the door to the GM wheat. The two southern hemisphere nations account for a fifth of wheat exports.

Argentina became the first nation to approve HB4 in 2020, but until now only Brazil, a major importer, and Colombia had followed suit.

Bioceres is trying to succeed where no one has before. While the vast majority of the world’s soybean and corn crops are already gene-modified, these are fed to livestock. GM wheat, on the other hand, would be directly eaten by humans in bread and pasta, something consumers and regulators have roundly rejected in the past. 

HB4’s selling point is that it tolerates drought at a time when farmers from the Americas to Oceania are grappling with climate change and extreme dryness. Australia is still suffering the effects of a drought between 2017 and 2019.

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