Country Reports Field trials and commercial cultivation in Spain

Field trials

Field trials have been conducted primarily with different varieties of wheat and barley.
From 1999 to December 2006, there have been 326 deliberate release trials of alfalfa, beet, cantaloupe, cotton, eucalyptus, maize, melon, oilseed rape, plum, poplar, potato, soybean, squash, strawberry, sugar beet, sunflower, sweet orange, tobacco, tomato and wheat (Source: JRC).

A database of all field trials registered in the EU can be accessed at Biotechnology & GMOs.

More statistics

Commercial cultivation

In Spain, 31 GMO varieties are listed in the Register of Commercial Plant Varieties, and include cultivars of maize, wheat, barley, soy, canola and cotton.

In 2006, 60,000 hectares of GMO cultivation have been documented.

In 2005, approximately 50,000 hectares of genetically modified maize were cultivated, comprising 11 percent of the total maize production in Spain (Source: Foundation Antama, 2005). The main cultivation is Bt maize, which in Spain since 1998 has been grown mainly in Aragon, Catalonia and Albacete, with further fields located in Toledo, Badajoz, Navarre, Madrid and Gerona. The harvest is used primarily for animal feed.

See also on GMO-Compass:

• GM Crops: Growing around the world
• Genetically Modified Plants: Field Trials in the EU