|
GM crops cultivation expands worlwide
THE cultivation of genetically-modified (GM) crops
expanded last year, with more farmers in many countries
adopting new varieties of herbicide-tolerant and
disease-resistant crops.
Dr. Clive James, chairman of the International Service
for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA),
said the rapid expansion of hectarage devoted to GM
crops confirms the acceptance of such crops in many
regions of the world.
James led the launch of the report on the Global Status
of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2011 at the Hyatt
Hotel in Manila on Wednesday morning, February 8.
Hosted by the National Academy of Science and Technology
(NAST), Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate
Study in Agriculture (SEARCA), the International Service
for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA)
and the Biotechnology Media and Advocacy Resource Center
(BMARC), the event brought together leading
biotechnology advocates and officials of the Department
of Agriculture (DA), University of the Philippines at
Los Banos (UPLB) and farmer-leaders.
Former UP president, NAST president and Academician Dr.
Emil Q. Javier opened the seminar while Agriculture
Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Segfredo Serrano
spoke on the 10 years of biotech crop commercialization
in the Philippines.
James tackled the inexorable growth of GM adoption
worldwide and revealed the advances made by biotech
crops in Asia, Latin America, Africa, North America and
even in Europe and Australia.
He said strong growth continued in 10211 with a
double-digit increase of 12 million hectares, at an
annual growth rate of 8 percent, reaching 160 million
hectares, up from 148 million hectares in 2010.
A 94-fold increase from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to
160 million hectares in 2011 makes biotech crops the
fastest adopted crop technology in recent history.
The most compelling testimony to biotech crops is that,
from 1996 to 2011, millions of farmers in 29 countries
worldwide made more than 100 million independent
decisions to plant and replant an accumulated 1.25
billion hectares.
This means risk-averse farmers have trust and
confidence that biotech crops would deliver sustainable
and substantial, socioeconomic and environmental
benefits.
Of the 29 countries planting biotech crops in 2011, 19
were developing and 10 were industrial countries.
The top 10 countries each grew more than one million
hectares and they provide a broad-based, worldwide
foundation for diversified growth in the future.
In 2011, a record 16.7 million farmers, up 1.3 million
or 8 percent from 2010, grew biotech crops—notably over
90 percent, or 15 million, were small resource poor
farmers in developing countries.
Moreover, a record 7 million small farmers in China and
another 7 million in India elected to plant 14.5
hectares of Bt cotton.
Developing countries grew 50 percent of global biotech
crops in 2011 and are expected to exceed industrial
country hectarage in 2012.
In 2011, the growth rate for biotech crops was twice as
fast, and twice as large, in developing countries, at 11
percent or 8.2 million hectares, versus 5 percent or 3.8
million hectares in industrial countries.
SEARCA director Dr. Gil Saguiguit Jr. also discussed the
impact of biotech crops in increasing agricultural
productivity, biodiversity conservation through reduced
tillage and the protection of the environment.
James noted that biotech crops are now planted in more
than 148 million hectares of farms, many of which are
maintained by smallholder farmers and subsistence food
producers.
Since biotech crops like Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
corn can increase output per unit area, the cultivation
of GM crops actually reduces the pressure on
transforming more areas into agricultural zones.
Back to top |
