Allison Squires grows organic grains like wheat, lentils and flax on her farm in Wood Mountain, Sask., but she says she is “supremely disappointed” in Canada’s newly clarified seed guidelines that she says puts her sector at risk.
Canada has just relaxed guidelines around gene-edited seeds, a move that the biotech industry says could lead to everything from Canada planting more drought-resistant crops to, someday, pitless cherries and sweeter broccoli.
On May 3, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau announced that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) seed guidelines now allow for some modified plants.
Gene-edited seeds allowed
The updated seed rules now allow seeds created through gene-editing that are not spliced with
