Syngenta not actively pursuing biotech wheat: CEO

By K.T. Arasu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Syngenta AG, the world's largest agrochemical group, is not actively pursuing genetically modified wheat because of consumer resistance, Chief Executive Michael Mack told Reuters on Thursday.

"We are not actively pursuing it in the face of the fact that the biotechnology we have today is still facing consumer resistance," he said on the sidelines of the annual USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum here.

He said biotech wheat was not receiving "the same sort of resources and focus from the company as some of our other products."

But Mack was confident that genetically modified wheat -- like corn and soybeans -- would eventually win acceptance among consumers.

"I will tell you, in 10 years people will begin to see the benefits of biotech wheat," he added.

Even as most consumers around the world have come to accept genetically modified corn and soybeans that are largely used as livestock feed, they have been opposed to biotech wheat that is used to make bread, noodles, pastries and pasta.

Wheat and corn account for 40 percent of the world's food and 25 percent of calories consumed in developing countries, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture organization.

There is no transgenic wheat currently in the world due to the strong opposition from public and consumer organizations.