Biotech Crop Area Increases February 17, 2014 12:00 am Last year marked the 18th consecutive year of growth in biotech (Genetically Modified) crops. In 2013, 175.2 million hectares of GM crops were grown globally, this is an area over 7 times the size of the UK, and a 5% increase on the previous year. This data comes from the latest annaul report from the ISAAA on the status of biotech crops around the world (see http://www.isaaa.org/). The table below shows the nineteen counties that grow over 50,000 hectares of GM crops; in total 27 counties grow biotech crops. Country GM Area (Million Ha) Crops USA 70.1 Maize, soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet, alfalfa, papaya, squash Brazil 40.3 Soybean, maize, cotton Argentina 24.4 Soybean, maize, cotton India 11.0 Cotton Canada 10.8 Canola, maize, soybean, sugar beet China 4.2 Cotton, papaya, poplar, tomato, sweet pepper Paraguay 3.6 Soybean, maize, cotton South Africa 2.9 Maize, soybean cotton Pakistan 2.8 Cotton Uruguay 1.5 Soybean, maize Bolivia 1.0 Soybean Philippines 0.8 Maize Australia 0.6 Cotton, canola Burkina Faso 0.5 Cotton Myanmar 0.3 Cotton Spain 0.1 Maize Mexico 0.1 Cotton, soybean Colombia 0.1 Cotton, maize Sudan 0.1 Cotton Source:ISAAA, 2014 Over 18 million farmers grow biotech crops. China and India account for the vast proportion of these growers 7.5 million and 7.3 million respectively. The report states that these are predominately risk-adverse farmers with small land areas. Within Europe, Spain leads the way in GM production. In 2013, 136,962 Ha of Bt maize was grown, up 18% on the previous year. With more counties approving GM crops and increasing areas being planted in those nations that have already adopted the technology, the increase in GM production looks set to continue.
