By Eric Akasa
For the first time
since the introduction of biotech/GM crops almost two decades ago, developing
countries have grown more hectares of biotech crops than industrialized
countries, contributing to food security and further alleviating poverty in
some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.
Developing nations planted 52 percent of the global biotech crops
in 2012, up from 50 percent a year earlier and above the 48 percent industrial
countries grew last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).
Last year also marked an unprecedented 100-fold increase in
biotech crop hectarage to 170 million
Hectares from 1.7 million in 1996, when biotech crops were first
commercialized. “This makes biotech
Crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent history,” said
Clive James, veteran author of the
annual report and chair and founder of ISAAA.
Adoption of biotech crops in developing countries has built up
steadily over the years, finally turning the
Corner and surpassing industrial countries in 2012, a milestone
once thought impossible by some, James
Observes. This comes about as the world grows more biotech crops
than ever before.
“This growth is contrary to the prediction of critics, who prior
to the commercialization of the technology
in 1996 prematurely declared that biotech crops were only for
industrial countries, and would never be
accepted and adopted by developing countries,” James points out.
The report underscores rising awareness in developing countries
about the benefits of planting genetically
modified crops, which not only have increased yields, but also
bring savings in fuel, time and machinery,
reduction in pesticide use, higher quality of product and more
growing cycles.
From 1996 to 2011, biotech crops contributed to food security,
sustainability, and climate change by:
increasing crop production valued at US$98.2 billion; providing a
better environment by saving 473
million kg a.i. of pesticides; in 2011 alone reducing CO2 emissions
by 23 billion kg, equivalent to taking
10.2 million cars off the road; conserving biodiversity by saving
108.7 million hectares of land; and
helped alleviate poverty by helping >15.0 million small farmers
and their families totaling >50 million
people who are some of the poorest people in the world. Biotech
crops are essential but are not a panacea
and adherence to good farming practices such as rotations and
resistance management, are a must for
biotech crops as they are for conventional crops.
Globally, farmers grew a record 170.3 million hectares of biotech
crops in 2012, up 6 percent, or 10.3
million hectares more than in 2011, boosting farmers’ income
worldwide due to enhanced productivity
and efficiency gains.
“There is one principal and overwhelming reason that underpins the
trust and confidence of farmers in
biotechnology: biotech crops deliver substantial, and sustainable,
socio-economic and environmental
benefits,” James said.
Resource-Poor Farmers Benefit the
Most
ISAAA’s report also confirmed that the rate and scale of biotech
crop adoption in developing countries
dwarfs that of industrialized nations. The growth rate for biotech
crops was at least three times as fast, and
five times as large, in developing countries, at 11 percent or 8.7
million hectares, versus 3 percent or 1.6 million hectares in industrial
countries.
A record 17.3 million farmers grew biotech crops worldwide in
2012, up 0.6 million from a year earlier.
Over 90 percent of these farmers, or more than 15 million, were
small resource-poor farmers in
developing countries. “Global food insecurity, exacerbated by high
and unaffordable food prices, is a
formidable challenge to which biotech crops can contribute,” James
remarks.
Sudan
and Cuba Make History
Sudan and Cuba planted biotech crops for the first time last year.
By growing biotech cotton, Sudan
became the fourth country in Africa, after South Africa, Burkina
Faso and Egypt, to commercialize a
biotech crop.
Meanwhile, Cuban farmers planted 3,000 hectares of hybrid biotech
maize as part of an initiative to
bolster ecological sustainability and remain pesticide free.
Of the 28 countries that planted biotech crops, 20 were developing
and eight were industrial countries,
compared to 19 developing and 10 industrial countries in 2011.
Approximately 60 percent of the world’s
population, or about 4 billion people, live in the 28 countries
planting biotech crops.
China, India, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa, which together
represent approximately 40 percent of
the global population, grew 78.2 million hectares or 46 percent of
global biotech crops in 2012.
For the fourth consecutive year, Brazil was the engine of growth
globally in 2012, fortifying itself as a
global leader in biotech crops. Brazil ranks second only to the
U.S. in worldwide biotech crop hectarage,
growing at a year-to-year record 6.3 million hectares, or a
substantial 21 percent, to reach 36.6 million
hectares in 2012 compared to 30.3 million in 2011.
A fast-track science-based approval system allows Brazil to adopt
new biotech crops in a timely manner.
For instance, the South American country was the first to approve
the stacked soybean with insect
resistance and herbicide tolerance for commercialization in 2013,
James said.
India cultivated a record 10.8 million hectares of biotech cotton
with an adoption rate of 93 percent, while
7.2 million small resource-poor farmers in China grew 4.0 million
hectares of biotech cotton with an
adoption rate of 80 percent.
U.S. Remains the World’s Largest
Grower
The U.S. continued to be the lead country with 69.5 million
hectares, with an average of 90 percent
adoption across all crops. The report notes that the devastating
2012 drought hit various crops. The most
recent estimates indicate that due to the drought, average yields
in 2012 were 21 percent less for maize
and 12 percent less for soybeans compared with 2011 yields.
Canada, on the other hand, had a record 8.4 million hectares of
canola at a record 97.5 percent adoption.
The EU countries grew a record 129,071 hectares of Bt maize in
2012, but Germany and Sweden could
not continue to plant the biotech potato Amflora because it ceased
to be marketed; Poland discontinued
planting biotech maize because of regulation inconsistencies in
the interpretation of the law with the EU
maintaining that all necessary approvals were already in place for
planting, whereas Poland did not.
Challenges Remain
The lack of appropriate, science-based and cost-time-effective
regulatory systems continues to be the
major constraint to adoption of biotech crops. Responsible,
rigorous but not onerous, regulation is needed
for small and poor developing countries, James said.
“Biotech crops are important but are not a panacea,” he added.
“Adherence to good farming practices,
such as rotations and resistance management, are a must for
biotech crops as they are for conventional
crops.”
The near-term looks encouraging with new improved products such as
the first biotech drought tolerant
maize approved for planting in the USA in 2013 and also the first
planting of the stacked soybean in
Brazil and neighboring countries in South America in 2013. In the
Philippines, Vitamin A enhanced
Golden rice could be released in 2013/2014 subject to regulatory
approval. Going forward, global growth
of biotech crop hectares is likely to be more modest due to the
already high rate of adoption in all the
principal crops in mature markets in both developing and
industrial countries, James noted.
