GM crops down in Europe as rest of world increases adoption

Six European countries planted 94,750 hectares of biotech crops in 2009, down from seven countries and 107,719 hectares in 2008, as Germany discontinued its planting. Spain planted 80 per cent of all the Bt maize in the EU in 2009 and maintained its record adoption rate of 22 per cent from the previous year.

In November 2009 there was a landmark decision when China issued biosafety certificates for biotech insect-resistant rice and phytase maize. Rice is the most important food crop globally and maize is the most important animal feed crop in the world, meaning these biosafety clearances will have enormous implications for future biotech crop adoption in China. The crops must complete 2 to 3 years of standard registration field trials prior to commercialisation.

As the largest rice producing country, China suffers significant losses from rice borer. According to the 2009 survey of biotech crop planting by ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications) Bt rice has the potential to increase yields up to 8 per cent, decrease pesticide use by 80 per cent and generate $4 billion in benefits annually.

“This would have a direct and extensive increase on the prosperity of about 440 million Chinese who rely on rice production,” said Dafang Huang, former director at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “With hundreds of millions of small farmers in our country, biotech crops can serve as an engine for agricultural economic growth and bring prosperity to these small farmers.”

China is also the second largest maize producer in the world, with about 100 million farmers growing 30 million hectares. Increasing prosperity in the country is creating an increased demand for animal protein, making maize a key resource. The phytase maize will allow China’s 500 million pigs and 13 billion chickens and other poultry to digest more phosphate, improving the animal’s growth and reducing the amount of the nutrient excreted. Currently, phosphate must be purchased and added to feed, and it contributes to environmental pollution.

China is just one of 16 developing countries that grew biotech crops in 2009. Growth of biotech crops has been substantially higher in developing nations – 13 per cent or 7 million hectares in 2009 compared to just 3 per cent or 2 million hectares in industrialized countries. As a result, almost half (46 per cent) of the global hectarage of biotech crops were planted in developing countries.  

“This strong adoption puts to rest the idea that biotech crops can only benefit larger farmers and industrialised countries,” Huang said. “In fact, countries like China, with hundreds of millions of small farmers, have identified biotech crops as a key to self-sufficiency to make it less dependent on others for food, feed, and fibre.”

Overall, in 2009, 14 million farmers planted 134 million hectares (330 million acres) of biotech crops in 25 countries, up from 13.3 million farmers and 125 million hectares (7 per cent) in 2008.  Notably, in 2009, 13 of the 14 million farmers, or 90 per cent, were small and resource-poor farmers from developing countries.

ISAAA says biotech rice and the drought tolerant trait have been identified as the two most important drivers globally for future biotech crop adoption. China’s biosafety clearance of insect-resistant rice is likely to spur faster development of biotech rice and other biotech crops in other developing countries. Meanwhile drought tolerant maize is expected to be deployed in the US in 2012 and sub-Saharan Africa in 2017.

2009 saw the beginning of the second generation of biotech crops with the approval of SmartStax, a maize containing eight different genes for insect and herbicide resistance; and planting in the US and Canada of the first Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, the first product of a new class of technology that allows more efficient, precise insertion of genes in a fashion that is said to increase yields.  

ISAAA predicts future adoption increases will also come from:

• significant expansion of biotech soybean, maize, and cotton in Brazil.

• commercialisation of Bt cotton in 2010 by Pakistan, the fourth-largest cotton growing country.

• expansion of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso with potential adoption of biotech cotton and/or maize in other African countries including Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, and Mali.

• adoption of golden rice by the Philippines in 2012 and Bangladesh and India before 2015.

Other crops are also expected to be approved by 2015, including potatoes with pest and/or disease resistance, sugarcane with quality and agronomic traits, and disease resistant bananas. Wheat remains the last major staple crop without approved biotech traits. China may be the first country to approve biotech wheat as early as 5 years from now. Traits such as disease resistance are well advanced while sprouting tolerance and enhanced quality traits are being field-tested. China’s public investment in the crop is likely the largest worldwide.