Seed Today - Q1 2008 - (Page 12)

GM Crops: 12 Years, Still Growing GM crops’ socioeconomic benefits are most evident among resource-poor farmers Socio-Economic Benefits “Already those farmers who began adopting biotech crops a few years ago are beginning to see socio-economic advantages compared to their peers who haven’t adopted the crops,” James says. Biotech crops have delivered unprecedented benefits that contribute toward the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, particularly in countries like China, India and South Africa. The potential in the second decade of biotech crop commercialization is enormous, James reports. These studies show strong farmer confidence in the crops with 9 out of 10 Indian farmers replanting biotech cotton year on year. In China, 100 percent of the farmers are choosing to continue utilizing the technology. The socio-economic benefits associated with biotech crops are becoming evident. A study of 9,300 Bt cotton and non-Bt cotton-growing households in India indicates that women and children in Bt cotton households have slightly more access to social benefits than non-Bt cotton growers. “It’s these types of benefits that will make crop biotechnology a vital tool in achieving the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals of cutting hunger and poverty in half and ensuring a more sustainable agriculture in the future,” James says. New User Nations In 2007, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India and China continued to be the principal adopters of biotech crops globally. While the United States continues to be the largest user of the technology, its biotech crop area represents a declining share of the global area due to a broadening adoption. According to the report, Burkina Faso, Egypt and possibly Vietnam are the next mostly likely countries to approve biotech crops. Australia is field-testing drought-tolerant wheat and two states recently lifted a four-year ban on biotech canola. Finally, countries like India recognize the importance of using biotechnology to make the country self-sufficient in food grains, including rice, wheat and oil seed production with the first biotech food crop, biotech eggplant, expecting approval in the near-term. “I predict the number of biotech countries, crops, traits, area and farmers will all grow substantially in the second decade of adoption,” James says. edited by Joe W. Funk This article is taken from Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2007, by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Manila, Philippines. (www.isaaa.org) After 12 years of commercialization, biotech crops are still gaining ground with another year of double-digit growth in 2007. Last year global biotech crop area grew 12 percent or 30 million acres to reach 282 million acres. New crops were also added to the list as China reported 250,000 biotech poplar trees planted. The insect-resistant trees can contribute to reforestation efforts. Two million more farmers chose to plant biotech crops last year bringing the world total to 12 million. Notably, 11 million of the benefiting farmers are resource-poor farmers. In fact, the number of developing countries (12) planting biotech crops surpassed the number of industrialized countries (11). The growth rate in the developing world was three times that of industrialized nations, 21 percent compared to 6 percent. “With increasing food prices globally, the benefits of biotech crops have never been more important,” says Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA and the report’s author. 12 First Quarter 2008 http://www.isaaa.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Seed Today - Q1 2008

Seed Today - Q1 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes Cover Feature: Agrecol® Corporation Reed Barker, Ph.D. Cal/West Seeds Inc. Annual GM Use Report Bt Resistance Reported Camelina Tony Harper Gayle Jacklin According to ASTA Krauter Structures AOSCA AOSA/SCST GM and Greenhouse Gas Seed Associations Ad Index

Seed Today - Q1 2008

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