Rising trend: Genetically modified crops worldwide on 125 million hectares

The countries with the largest acreage of GM crops are the USA (62.5 mil. hectares), Argentina (21), Brazil (15.8), India and Canada (7.6). Even China, Paraguay and South Africa cultivated GM-crops on an area of over one million hectares. According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications ISAAA, which published its annual report on global crop situation, a world total of 13.3 million farmers used GM crops in 2008, 1.3 million more than last year.

The commercial use of GM varieties is based on soybean, maize, cotton, and rapeseed.

• The cultivation area for GM soybean jumped by 12.3 per cent from 58.6 mil. hectares in 2007 to 65.8 in 2008. Countries growing GM soybean are located particularly in North and South America (USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Uruguay Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile and Mexico), but South Africa also cultivates GM soybean.

• The cultivation of GM maize increased by 6 per cent up to 37.3 mil. hectares. For the first time, Egypt (700 hectares) and Brazil (1,3 mil. hectares) cultivated Bt maize in 2008. Major countries growing GM maize are the USA and Argentina, followed by Canada, South Africa, Uruguay, the Philippines, Chile and Honduras. In the European Union, Bt maize was cultivated in 2008 in seven member states on an entire area of more than 100.000 hectares.

• With rapeseed, the cultivation of GM varieties reached 5.9 million hectares worldwide, 7.3 per cent more in than the year before. GM rapeseed is cultivated mainly in Canada and the USA. In 2008, Australia cultivated GM rapeseed for the first time.

• The acreage for cotton in 2008 increased by 3.3 per cent to total 15.5 million hectares. Burkina Faso grew 2008 GM cotton for the first time and brought thereby the number of countries to ten in which GM cotton is commercially employed.

• For the first time, ISAAA recorded areas of GM sugar beet, which is approved for cultivation in the U.S. and Canada. In the second year after its launch, herbicide-tolerant GM beet already reached a share of 57 per cent. Its acreage was almost 260,000 hectares in 2008.

In the U.S., there were smaller areas with GM squash, GM papayas and GM alfalfa. Australia and Colombia cultivate GM carnation.

China plants GM papayas and GM poplar. Furthermore, a limited cultivation of GM tomatoes, peppers and petunias is expected, although there is no detailed information about this issue in the ISAAA report.