GM crops flourishing in developing world, says report
Back to Topic
Click to Print
Useful Websites
Glossary Term Selection
By Chen Weixiao
The planting of genetically modified crops has surged, particularly in developing countries, because of the global food crisis, according to a report.
The number of countries growing GM crops has increased from six in 1996, the first year of commercialisation, to 25 in 2009, says the latest annual report of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA), released in Beijing last month (23 February).
Around 134 million hectares worldwide are now planted with GM crops.
The United States tops the list of countries growing GM crops, followed by Brazil, Argentina, India, Canada, China, Paraguay and South Africa. Almost half of global GM crops are now planted in 16 developing countries, involving 13 million small farmers. ISAAA predicts that the number of biotech farmers will reach 20 million or more by 2015.
‘This strong adoption puts to rest the idea that [GM] crops can only benefit larger farmers and industrialised countries,’ said Huang ...
Want to see the rest of this article?
Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?
- Useful related articles
- Video and multimedia references
- Statistical information and reference material
- Glossary of terms
- Key Facts and figures
- Related assignments
- Resource material and websites
