More than 1 billion hectares planted in biotechnological crops since 1996

San Jose, Costa Rica, May 18, 2011 (IICA). The total surface area planted in biotechnological crops, since they were first commercialized in 1996, has surpassed one billion hectares. In 2010 alone, 148 million hectares were cultivated by 15.4 million farmers in 29 countries.

These data appear in the latest report from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agro-biotech Applications (ISAAA) on the global status of the commercialization of biotech products, distributed and analyzed in a videoconference organized by the Biotechnology and Biosafety Area of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The report states that the cultivation of such crops has grown steadily at a rate of 10% per year for those 15 years. In addition, the number of countries where biotech crops are grown has increased from 25 to 29, which are home to more than one half of the world population (59%). During the same period, the number of countries that import biotech products has also grown, reaching 30 in 2010.

According to Pedro Rocha, Coordinator of the Biotechnology and Biosafety Area, “It is important to understand that biotechnology is a tool box, and that one of the many tools it offers is transgenesis.”

The ISAAA report states that more than 90% of all those who grow such crops are small-scale farmers in developing countries. Furthermore, of the 29 countries in which biotech crops are grown, only ten are industrialized.

According to the report, developing countries cultivate 48% of the surface area planted in biotechnological crops worldwide and will surpass the developed countries by 2015, considering that the rate of growth in the former reached 17%, and in the latter only 5%.

Agrobiotechnology, global outlook

For the first time, biotech crops occupied 10% of the 1.5 billion hectares of all cropland in the world, with significant growth recorded in countries that had already adopted this technology, and with three new countries now involved. This growth can be attributed to the proven benefits of its use.

“Genetically modified crops are contributing significantly to sustainability and to efforts to adapt to climate change. The increase in productivity they generate makes it possible to work the same amount of land and, by not expanding the agricultural frontier, to conserve biodiversity. They also reduce the ecological footprint of agriculture, requiring less tillage and land preparation, which consumes less fuel and produces less greenhouse gas. In 2009, such emissions fell by 18 billion kilos, which is equivalent to taking 8 million vehicles off the road,” Rocha added.

Five principal developing countries are growing biotech crops: China and India in Asia, Brazil and Argentina in Latin America, and South Africa in the continent of Africa.

Brazil increased its hectarage of biotech crops more than any other country in the world, reporting a record 4 million hectare increase.

In addition, in 2010 three new countries –Pakistan, Myanmar and Sweden - planted biotech crops for the first time, while Germany renewed its production. In Australia, biotech crops recovered after a multi-year drought, with the largest proportional year-on-year increase of 184%. In the European Union, eight countries cultivate Bt maize or the recently authorized “Amflora” potato.

In Mexico, the first field trials with biotech maize were conducted. As the Technical Director of the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-Secretarial Commission on Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (CIBIOGEM), Sol Ortiz Garcia, explained, after an 11-year moratorium on the planting of genetically modified maize, which, in her opinion, brought research and the generation of knowledge to a halt in this field, and discouraged the development of biotechnology in maize, the implementation of 32 field trials constitutes a significant step forward.

The future

The outlook for the future is promising. Drought resistant maize is expected to be released in 2012, golden rice in 2013 and Bt rice before 2015, which could benefit some 1 million poor in Asia alone.

As a result, it is necessary to develop suitable and cost-effective regulatory systems. According to Tea Garcia Huidobor, Program Officer for GEF Projects of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, “It is necessary to develop national biosafety frameworks that include legal, policy, administrative and technical instruments to ensure the safety of food and human health. Policies are in place in many countries, but they are not applied or effectively monitored.”

For Rocha, these regulatory systems must be established in the short rather than the long term, given the pressure being exerted on agriculture today. In the coming years, plans call for diversifying the number of biotechnological crops, to involve not only crops that are resistant to droughts, floods or pests, but also others with nutritional and curative qualities. He concluded “People used to talk about the risks involved in using biotechnology; now they refer the risk of not using it.”

For more information, contact
pedro.rocha@iica.int