UPDATE 1-France's Avril to develop protein-rich rapeseed with Dow unit

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PARIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - French oilseed producer Avril
announced a partnership with Dow Chemical Co DOW.N unit Dow
AgroSciences on Wednesday to develop protein-rich rapeseed.
The deal will be based on non-genetically modified (GMO)
seed technology developed by Dow AgroSciences in Canada, which
boosts protein content by 20 percent, Avril's Deputy Director
General Michel Boucly told reporters.
"Dow has developed a canola with the same level of oil but
enriched with protein and they are launching it on the Canadian
market in 2016. We are not pleased at all because they are our
competitors so we negotiated (...) an exclusive license deal to
develop this technology for French producers," he said.
Dow's canola, a type of rapeseed which is grown in the
spring, will be adapted to be cultivated in the winter as
virtually all other rapeseed in France. It will then be made
available for seed makers. The new seeds will not be available
until 2025.
Boucly noted the protein would be non-GMO as opposed to
imported soybean. GMOs are controversial in Europe, notably in
France.
Avril, which is owned by oilseed crop growers, declined to
give financial details of the partnership, but said it would
contribute to Dow's research through its financial arm
Sofiproteol.
"The idea is that there be more protein from France and less
imported," Avril Director General Jean-Philippe Puig said.
Avril produces biodiesel, vegetable oil, oleochemical
solutions, animal feed and other food products such as eggs.
It sees the protein market as the one with the most
potential with a deficit estimated at 58 million tonnes in 2030.
"By 2030, vegetable protein demand will be 15 percent higher
than offer," Boucly said, pointing to people in emerging
economies eating more meat as well as higher demand in developed
countries.
Avril had sales of 6.1 billion euros ($6.8 bln) in 2015,
down 5 percent from 2014 due mainly to a slump in crude oil
prices which affected its biofuels activities, lower feed demand
from a declining livestock sector and difficulties in passing on
higher vegetable oil prices to supermarkets.
Dow is in the process of merging with chemical maker DuPont (N:DD)
DD.N to form a chemical and seed producer.
The deal, announced in December, will face intense
regulatory scrutiny, analysts said, especially over combining
their agricultural businesses, which sell seeds and crop
protection chemicals.
($1 = 0.8973 euros)