DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has approved a biotech corn variety that was engineered solely for producing ethanol. The Des Moines Register said Vilsack approved it Friday.

The corn, a product of Syngenta, contains an enzyme, amylase, that reduces the costs of turning it into the biofuel. The corn, which will go by the trade name Enogen, is to be grown this year only in western parts of Kansas and Nebraska. Syngenta hopes to eventually offer it to areas near ethanol plants in Iowa and other states.

“Enogen corn seed offers growers an opportunity to cultivate a premium specialty crop. It is a breakthrough product that provides U.S. ethanol producers with a proven means to generate more gallons of ethanol from their existing facilities,” said Davor Pisk, Syngenta’s chief operating officer, in a statement.

“Enogen corn also reduces the energy and water consumed in the production process while substantially reducing carbon emissions.”

Production of Enogen corn will be managed by Syngenta using a contracted, closed production system, according to the company. It stated the corn amylase trait in Enogen has already been approved for import into Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia and Taiwan, and for cultivation in Canada.

Amylase can make the corn unsuitable for some food products. Companies that mill corn for breakfast cereals and other foods have been fighting the move, fearing it will contaminate their supplies. Syngenta insists the corn will be kept away from food channels.

“USDA has failed to provide the public with sufficient scientific data on the economic impacts of contamination on food production, or information on how USDA will ensure Syngenta’s compliance with a stewardship plan,” said Mary Waters, president of the North American Millers Assoc. (NAMA).

A statement by NAMA further claims Syngenta’s 3272 Amylase Corn Trait contains a powerful enzyme that breaks down the starch in corn rapidly, a cost-saving function for ethanol production. “If it should enter the food processing stream, the same function that benefits ethanol production will damage the quality of food products like breakfast cereals, snack foods and battered products,” it read.

NAMA also participated in a joint statement with the Corn Refiners Assoc., National Grain and Feed Assoc., Pet Food Institute and Snack Food Assoc. It stressed while they support agricultural biotechnology “as an important tool to enhance agricultural production to help meet growing demand for food, feed, biofuels and exports,” they were “deeply disappointed” by the USDA’s decision to totally deregulate, without conditions, the first biotech-enhanced trait intended solely for industrial use.

The National Corn Growers Assoc. (NCGA), on the other hand, is pleased with the decision. It stated the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service had not found a plant pest risk associated with this event and reported a positive Environmental Assessment.

“Corn amylase is the first processing output trait to be scrutinized by our regulatory system,” stated Bart Schott, NCGA president. “The potential importance of output traits to growers and industry will only increase as other output traits are developed.”

“All output traits will be valued-added crops that have the potential to allow growers to raise a product that could be beneficial to their farms in ways that are not possible right now,” stated Chad Blindauer, chair of NCGA’s Trade Policy and Biotechnology Action Team. “We are pleased the U.S. regulatory system continues to provide growers with planting choices for their operations.”
The NCGA added that amylase was found to be safe for food and feed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2007.