A Milestone for Biotech Crops in 2005:

10 Years of Production on over 1 Billion Acres

This year will mark the 10th harvest of biotech crops, and the benchmark of 1 billion acres of commercial biotech crop production experience across the world, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications www.isaaa.org.

Sponsored by a number of public and private sector co-sponsors, the non-profit organization describes its primary mission as facilitating transfer of crop biotechnology applications to developing countries.

Biotech crops were first introduced in 1996. For the first time, the absolute growth in biotech crop area of nearly 33 million acres from 2003 to 2004 was higher in developing countries (17.7 million acres) than in industrial countries (just over 15 million acres).Five key developing countries – China, India, Argentina, Brazil and South Africa – will significantly impact the global adoption and acceptance of biotech crops in the future, according to Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA.  China is likely to approve Bt rice soon – even yet this year – which James notes would usher adoption of the most significant food crop in the world, and have a major impact on the acceptance of biotech food, feed and fiber crops worldwide.

By the end of the decade, ISAAA predicts up to 15 million farmers will grow biotech crops on about 370 million acres in up to 30 countries.

Soybeans comprise about 56% of global biotech crop acreage, followed by cotton (28%) canola (19%) and corn (14%).  More than 50 first generation ag products (including sugarbeets, sweet corn, and potatoes) now have commercial approval, according to the Council for Biotechnology Information.

While biotech wheat is being researched, there is no biotech wheat commercially available.  Ironically, however, it’s estimated that many, if not most, processed wheat foods already contain biotech ingredients. The Grocery Manufacturers of America estimates that up to 70% of processed food in the U.S. market contains products of genetic engineering, including sweeteners and oils.