GM crop planting up 21% in 2006:report

Gene manipulation technology in agriculture stirs strong emotions in Africa as in the rest of the world. While those opposed may be more vociferous and more visible, a new report suggests that GM farming is nevertheless quietly increasing in the developing world.

Researchers at the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) say planting of GM crops worldwide increased by 21% in the 2006. They say over 90 per cent of those growing GM crops — around 9.3 million farmers — are small, resource-poor farmers in developing countries.

ISAAA describes itself as "a not-for-profit organization that delivers the benefits of new agricultural biotechnologies to the poor in developing countries. It aims to share these powerful technologies to those who stand to benefit from them and at the same time establish an enabling environment for their safe use."

The report, released in January, says the total area of approved GM crops in 2006 was 102 million hectares in 22 countries — a 13 per cent rise on the previous year. "This is a historical landmark in that it is the first time for more than 100 million hectares of biotech crops to be grown in any one year," it says.

About 40 per cent of GM crops were grown in developing countries, which showed the biggest rise in growing area — 21 per cent compared to nine per cent in industrialised countries. India had the largest proportional increase: 192 per cent, an increase from 1.3 million hectares in 2005 to 3.8 million hectares in 2006. South Africa was second with an increase of 180 per cent from 0.5 million hectares in 2005 to 1.4 million hectares in 2006.

The ISAAA sees the high adoption rate of GM as "testimony to the trust and confidence of millions of small and large farmers in crop biotechnology in both industrial and developing countries".

However, both Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth published reports disagreeing with ISAAA's positive verdict.

Greenpeace says ISAAA's claims about GM's acceptance are "not consistent with the massive and continuing opposition from consumers, farmers, local and regional authorities, national governments and even major food companies".

Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of the Earth Africa said, "No GM crop on the market today offers benefits to the consumer in terms of quality or price, and to date these crops have done nothing to alleviate hunger or poverty in Africa or elsewhere".