Global cultivation of GM crops increases by 6%

While the cultivation of genetically modified plants - with 0.12 % of the total cultivated land - continues to play a minor role in Europe, global dimensions are alarming. 12 % of the total arable land is used for growing GM crops worldwide.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications has published an executive summary on the 2012 biotech crop “highlights” (see graph. Source: ISAAA). It reveals that biotech crops have increased for the 17th consecutive year. A record 170 million hectares of biotech crops were grown globally in 2012, at an annual growth rate of 6%, up 10 million from 160 million hectares in 2011 and a 100-fold increase from 1996.

Of the 28 countries which planted biotech crops last year, 20 were developing and eight were industrial countries. The top ten countries each grew more than 1 million hectares of those crops. Maize, soybean, cotton, canola, sugarbeet, alfalfa, papaya and squash were grown on 69m hectares in the USA. Brazil with around 37 million ha and Argentina with 24 million ha of soybean, maize and cotton followed.

Transgene plants were cultivated on 132,000 hectares in Europe, up from 114,500 ha in 2011. Currently, the only two GM plants allowed to be cultivated in Europe are Monsanto maize MON 810 and the BASF potato Amflora. In Spain, the area dedicated to GM maize grew from 97,000 to 116,000 hectares. In Portugal, the cultivation of GM crops also increased - from 7,700 to 9,300 hectares. In other member states, the area with GM crops decreased – in the Czech Republic from 5,100 ha to 3,100 ha; in Slovakia from 760 ha to 216 ha and in Romania from 588 ha to 189 ha. In Poland, where the government prohibited the dissemination of GM seeds at the beginning of 2013, the area with GM crops stagnates at 3,000 hectares, Informationsdienst Gentechnik reports.
 

Outside of Europe, criticism and resistance are growing in many places too. In the USA, for example, Occupy Monsanto and Label GMO are very active. In India, Navdanya is a strong movement for the protection of biological and cultural diversity and Peru has recently established a 10-year moratorium on the ban of GMOs.