Brussels, 19/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - According to a report published on Friday 19 January by ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications), the surface area of biotech crops in 2006 exceeded 100 million hectares worldwide, with 13% growth compared to 2005. This non-profit-making body, which is engaged in the fight against hunger and poverty by encouraging the development of biotech products, considers that growth for the period 1996 - 2006 is equivalent to an unprecedented 60-fold increase, the highest adoption rate of any crop technology. The number of farmers planting biotech crops surged to 10.3 million from 8.5 million in 2005.
Clive James, ISAAA Chairman who is also author of the report, predicts an acceleration of development in genetically modified production. By 2015, ISAAA predicts more than 20 million farmers will plant 200 million hectares of biotech crops in about 40 countries. Clive James stresses that over 90% or 9.3 million farmers growing biotech crops last year were small, resource-poor farmers from the developing world; allowing biotechnology to make a modest contribution to the alleviation of their poverty. Biotech crop adoption was higher in the developing world at 21% versus the industrialised nations where adoption grew 9%. Farmers won over by GMOs explain that these crops allow the cost of insecticides to be reduced and for output to be increased. For example, the yield increase of Bt cotton in India went from 308 kg lint per hectare in 2001-2002 to 450 kg lint per hectare in 2005-2006. Also, the increase in yield from Bt cotton soared from 0.9 million bales in 2005 to 4.7 million bales in 2006, the highest ever recorded for India. The report gives details of developments in the main producer regions, these being:
Europe: Growth in production is on the increase in European countries. In 2006, Slovakia became the sixth EU country out of 25 to plant biotech crops, with a very modest yield of 30 hectares of maize. Spain continues to lead the continent, planning 60,000 hectares in 2006. The other five EU countries reported a five-fold increase in plantings from 1,500 hectares in 2005 to about 8,500 hectares in 2006. Romania has crops over 115,000 hectares, 80% of which is soya. The Romanian government, however, decided to stop growing GMO soya crops after joining the EU. The Czech Republic has increased its production of Bt maize ten-fold, to 1,290 hectares. In Portugal, 1,250 hectares of GMO crops are produced, doubling the surface area of Bt maize. In Germany, maize production is modest (950 ha) but has almost tripled compared to 2001.
North America: Surface area increases for GMO crops in the United States went from 2.2 million ha in 2005 to 4.8 million in 2006, reaching a total of 54.6 million hectares. Genetically modified maize production is up 15%.
South America: In 2006, Argentina had 18 million hectares of GMO crops (an increase of 5% compared to 2005), i.e. 18% of world surface areas for the production of biotech crops. With 11.5 million hectares (GMO soya and cotton), Brazil has an increase of 22%.
Asia: In the lead, India has stepped up its surface area of GMO crop production by 192% (to 3.8 million ha), thus becoming the fifth largest producer country of biotech crops in the world, ahead of China for the very first time. Crops are also being developed in the Philippines, Pakistan and Vietnam.
Africa: With 1.4 million hectares, South Africa takes the lead in the African continent by increasing its surface areas of biotech crops almost three-fold (mainly white Bt maize for human consumption and yellow Bt maize for animal feed). Egypt, Burkina Faso and Kenya are currently conducting field trials which look “promising”.
ISAAA maintains that biofuels will also be a major engine for growth. Biotech options will be explored to bring cellulose-based ethanol from energy crops to market. Finally, the report states that GMO products with drought-tolerant traits are expected to reach the market within the next five years, unlocking substantial production opportunities in dryer climates. (lc)