34 Breeding and technology levy The breeding and technology is well established now. Wheat, barley and oats have been going strong for seven years followed by soybeans for six years. Starting from 1 October 2021, a breeding and technology levy has also been implemented for lupines to attract new and better cultivars to the South African market. It is very important for Grain SA to monitor the success of the breeding and technology levy. Not only for producers that are paying the levy, but also for seed and technology companies that needs to invest, both parties need to be satisfied with the working of the system and trust that the system would have the desired outcomes. For producers it would be measured in for example new, lower seed prices, higher yielding cultivars and technology that increases efficiencies. For seed companies on the other hand, trust that their investment would have returns if their seed performs well, is important. If the desired outcomes are not achieved, it is important to be transparent about it and address the problems or re-look the system all together. The success measured so far with the breeding and technology levy can be summarised as follows: For winter cereals New companies have entered the wheat seed market – four companies are now involved in in the wheat seed market. Eleven new cultivars have been approved for final release. 20 other cultivars were also approved for preliminary release. Of the eleven on final release, five were for irrigation, five for the Western Cape and one for the northern dryland areas. In 2025 one new cultivar for the northern dryland, two cultivars for the southern area and six cultivars for irrigation has been released. New technology: BioCeres (HB4 gene) drought tolerant gene to be tested on wheat. For soybeans During Congress in March 2024, Grain SA resolved to continue with the breeding and technology levy, or the SACTA levy, as it is popularly called. Since the end of February 2025, this levy has been in effect for seven years. Soybean producers resolved at Congress to extend this levy by three years, but on condition that a clear performance criterion be set to measure the success of the levy. Many new cultivars have entered the market – 67 new cultivars from June 2022 to June 2023. From June 2023 until December 2024, 64 new cultivars were released. New technology has been approved and is being commercialised – the Intacta RR 2 gene – bollworm resistant. Corteva's Concesta E3 technology has also been approved and commercialisation is planned for 2024/2025 season; as well as a drought gene from BioCeres (HB4 gene) that has been tested for its second year – application for registration was submitted to the GMO Act at the end of 2023. INPUT OVERVIEW 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 August 2025 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 Levy status and history Soybeans Wheat Barley Oats Lupins 2 years 2 years 2 years 2 years 3 years 3 years 3 years 2 years Approved 2 years 2 years 2 years Current Current Current Current Current 3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years 2 years Source: SACTA
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