Biotech Crops Show Sustained Growth and Benefits in 2014; Global Plantings Increase by 6 Million Hectares

The 2014 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops, authored by Clive James, Founder and Emeritus Chair of ISAAA, reports that a record 181.5 million hectares of biotech crops were grown globally, an increase of more than 6 million hectares from 2013. With the addition of Bangladesh, 28 countries grew biotech crops during the year. The 20 developing and eight industrial countries where biotech crops are planted represent more than 60 percent of the world’s population.

“The accumulated hectarage of biotech crops grown in 1996 to 2014 equals, roughly, 80 percent more than the total land mass of China. Global hectarage has increased more than 100-fold since the first plantings of biotech crops.” - Clive James

Since 1996, more than 10 food and fiber biotech crops have been approved and commercialized around the world. These range from major commodities such as maize, soybean and cotton, to fruits and vegetables like papaya, eggplant and, most recently, potato. The traits of these crops address common issues affecting crop benefits to the consumer and production rates for farmers, including drought tolerance, insect and disease resistance, herbicide tolerance and increased nutrition and food quality. Biotech crops contribute to more sustainable crop production systems and provide resilient responses to the challenges of climate change.

According to the Report, the United States continues to lead production at 73.1 million hectares, up 3 million hectares from 2013, the highest year-over-year increase, surpassing Brazil, which has recorded the highest annual increase for the past five years.

The Report also highlighted key benefits of biotechnology, including alleviation of poverty and hunger by boosting the income of risk-averse small, resource-poor farmers around the world. Latest global provisional information for the period 1996 to 2013 shows that biotech crops increased production valued at US$133 billion; in the period 1996 to 2012 pesticide use decreased significantly saving approximately 500 million kg of active ingredient. In 2013 alone, crop plantings lowered carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to removing 12.4 million cars from the road for one year.

These findings are consistent with a rigorous meta-analysis, conducted by economists Wilhelm Klumper and Matin Qaim in November 2014, which concludes that GM technology has, on average, reduced chemical pesticide use by 37 percent, increased crop yields by 22 percent, and increased farmer profits by 68 percent during the 20-year period 1995 to 2014. 

A corn farmer's family in the Philippines (ISAAA file photo)

Bangladesh: a model for success

Bangladesh, one of the smallest and poverty-stricken countries in the world, approved Bt brinjal (eggplant) in October 2013. Commercial planting began in January 2014 when 120 farmers planted 12 hectares of Bt brinjal throughout the year. Bt brinjal not only brings financial opportunity to farmers in the country, but also decreases farmer exposure to pesticides by 70 to 90 percent.

“The timely approval and commercialization of Bt brinjal in Bangladesh speaks to the power of political will and support from the government. This lays the foundation as a model of success for other small, poor countries to quickly introduce the benefits of biotech crops.”

The case of Bangladesh in 2014 reconfirms the value and success of public-private partnerships. The Bt biotech trait for brinjal – one of the most nutritious and important vegetables in Bangladesh – was donated by Mahyco, an Indian company.

“Public-private partnerships continue to increase the probability of timely delivery of approved biotech crops at the farm level,” James said. “They will remain essential in the years to come.”

The Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) Project is another example of a public-private partnership at work. Beginning in 2017, select African countries are scheduled to receive the first biotech drought tolerant maize, a food staple for more than 300 million Africans. The donated biotechnology trait is the same as the DroughtGard™ variety used in the United States, which increased 5.5-fold in planted hectares from 2013 to 2014. This demonstrates strong farmer acceptance of the biotech drought tolerant maize.

New approvals address consumer concerns

In the United States, approval of the Innate™ potato was granted in November 2014. The Innate potato decreases production of acrylamide, a potential carcinogen, when potatoes are cooked at high temperatures. Furthermore, it increases consumer satisfaction while precluding up to 40 percent yield loss as the potato will not discolor when peeled and has fewer bruising spots. These attributes will have meaningful impact on food security as food waste continues as an important factor in the discussion of feeding 9.6 billion people in 2050 and approximately 11 billion in 2100.

Potatoes represent the fourth most important food staple in the world. As such, a continuous effort is being made to improve the potato and combat losses due to diseases, insects and weeds, and other constraints.

Biotech-based control of the fungal disease late-blight, the most important disease of potatoes in the world, is already being field-tested in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia. Late-blight caused the 1845 Irish famine, which resulted in 1 million deaths. Biotech control of virus diseases and the Colorado beetle, the most important insect pest, are already available, but not deployed.

Status of biotech crops in Asia

In Asia, China and India continue to lead developing countries growing biotech crops at 3.9 million hectares and 11.6 million hectares planted in 2014, respectively.

The adoption rate of biotech cotton in China increased from 90 to 93 percent in 2014, while virus resistant papaya plantings increased approximately 50 percent. More than 7 million small farmers in the country continue to benefit from biotech crops and the latest economic data available indicates farmers in the country have gained US$16.2 billion since the introduction of biotech in 1996.

Bt cotton farmer in China (ISAAA file photo)

According to the Report, India cultivated a record 11.6 million hectares of Bt cotton with an adoption rate of 95 percent. Economists Brookes and Barfoot estimate that India enhanced farm income from Bt cotton by US$ 2.1 billion in 2013 alone.

Farmers at a cotton farm in India (ISAAA file photo)

Developing countries Vietnam and Indonesia granted approval for commercialization of biotech crops to begin in 2015. This includes several hybrids of biotech maize for importing and planting in Vietnam and drought tolerant sugarcane for planting as a food crop in Indonesia. 

  

Growth continues in Africa and Latin America

Having cultivated 2.7 million hectares in 2014, South Africa ranks as the leading developing country to grow biotech crops in Africa. Sudan increased Bt cotton hectarage by approximately 50 percent in 2014 and several African countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda conducted field trials on several pro-poor crops including the food crops rice, maize, wheat, sorghum, bananas, cassava and sweet potato. These crops can contribute to resilience and sustainability in the face of new climate change challenges.

In Latin America, Brazil ranked second, after the United States, for biotech crops planted in 2014. At 42.2 million hectares, this represents an increase of 5 percent from 2013.

Biotech crops impact food security, sustainability and the environment

From 1996 to 2013, biotech crops have increased crop production valued provisionally at $US133 billion; helped alleviate poverty for more than 16.5 million small farmers and their families – more than 65 million people, collectively – some of the poorest people in the world; and decreased the environmental impact of food and fiber production by reducing pesticide use, increasing land savings and reducing CO₂ emissions.

According to economists Graham Brookes and Peter Barfoot, if the 441 million tons of food, feed and fiber from biotech crops from 1996 to 2013 were not produced, an additional 132 million hectares of conventional crops would be needed to produce the same tonnage. This required increase in hectares could have negative impacts for biodiversity and the environment due to a greater demand for cultivated land.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) is a not-for-profit organization with an international network of centers designed to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and poverty by sharing knowledge and crop biotechnology applications. Clive James, Emeritus Chairman and Founder of ISAAA, has lived and/or worked for the past 30 years in the developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa, devoting his efforts to agricultural research and development issues with a focus on crop biotechnology and global food security.

For more information about ISAAA and Brief 49, visit http://www.isaaa.org.

The Executive Summary is available at: http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/49/executivesummary/default.asp.

The Top 10 Facts, infographics, and PowerPoint slides are available at: http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/49/default.asp.

To order a copy of Brief 49, see http://www.isaaa.org/purchasepublications/itemlist.asp?ItemType=BRIEFS.

Bt Toxin: A Story of the Pen and its Cap

Explaining the Bt technology to a layman might be hard because you would need to define a lot of terms and explain a number of concepts. However, plant biotechnologist Dr. K.C. Bansal, made it easy using a pen and its cap.

The protein produced by Bt crops is generally called a Bt protoxin which can be represented by a pen without a cap. So once the pest consumes a part of a Bt plant, the Bt protoxin (pen) meets with a receptor inside the insect's gut which is represented by the cap of the pen. When the protoxin (pen) and the receptor (cap) bind together in alkaline gut condition, they become an activated toxin, ready to poison the gut of the pest such as cotton bollworm, the eggplant fruit and shoot borer, and the Asian and European corn borers.

When non-target organisms (like humans and animals) ingest a part of a Bt plant, the toxin will not be activated because the receptor (cap) is only present in the gut of target organisms. Thus, the Bt protoxin will not take its action and become a toxin. Bt plants therefore are as safe as its conventional counterparts for food and feed. It has been proven safe by international food safety agencies since Bt corn were introduced in 1996.

For more information about Bt technology, read ISAAA Pocket K No. 6 at http://isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/6/default.asp.

Artwork by Rene Aranda, Philippine Star.

For more information about ISAAA and the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, visit our website at: http://www.isaaa.org/ and http://www.isaaa.org/kc. To subscribe to the weekly Crop Biotech Update, click here: http://www.isaaa.org/subscribe.

Top Ten Facts about Biotech/GM Crops in 2012

A new overview of biotech crops in 2012

Fact 1.
2012 was the 17th year of successful commercialization of biotech crops.

Biotech crops were first commercialized in 1996, and planting increased every single year between 1996 to 2012 with 12 years of double digit growth rates, reflecting the confidence and trust of millions of risk-averse farmers from both developing and industrial countries around the world.

Fact 2.
Biotech crop hectares increased by unprecedented 100-fold from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to over 170 million hectares in 2012.

This makes biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times. The reason – they deliver benefits. In 2012, hectarage of biotech crops grew at an annual growth rate of 6%, up 10.3 million from 160 million hectares in 2011. Millions of farmers in almost 30 countries worldwide have made more than 100 million independent decisions to plant an accumulated hectarage of almost 1.5 billion hectares, equivalent to 50% more than the total land mass of the United States or China. This growth reflects the fact that biotech crops deliver sustainable and substantial socioeconomic and environmental benefits.

Fact 3.
For the first time in 2012, developing countries planted more biotech crops than industrial countries.

Notably, developing countries grew more, 52%, of global biotech crops in 2012 than industrial countries at 48%. In 2012, growth rate for biotech crops was at least three times as fast, and five times as large in developing countries, at 11% or 8.7 million hectares, versus 3% or 1.6 million hectares in industrial countries.

Fact 4.
Number of countries growing biotech crops.

Of the 28 countries which planted biotech crops in 2012, 20 were developing and 8 were industrial countries; two new countries, Sudan (Bt cotton) and Cuba (Bt maize) planted biotech crops for the first time in 2012. Germany and Sweden could not plant the biotech potato "Amflora" because it ceased to be marketed. Stacked traits are an important feature – 13 countries planted biotech crops with two or more traits in 2012, and notably, 10 of the 13 were developing countries – 43.7 million hectares, or more than a quarter, of the 170 million hectares were stacked in 2012.

Fact 5.
Number of farmers growing biotech crops.

In 2012, a record 17.3 million farmers, up 0.6 million from 2011, grew biotech crops – remarkably over 90%, or over 15 million, were small resource-poor farmers in developing countries. Farmers are the masters of risk-aversion and in 2012, a record 7.2 million small farmers in China and another 7.2 million in India, elected to plant almost 15 million hectares of Bt cotton, because of the significant benefits it offers. In 2012 over one-third of a million small farmers in the Philippines benefited from biotech maize.

Bt cotton farmer in India.

Workers in cotton processing facility in China.

Biotech corn harvest in northern Philippines.

Fact 6.
The top 5 countries planting biotech crops.

The US continued to be the lead country with 69.5 million hectares, with an average ~ 90% adoption across all crops. Brazil was ranked second, and for the fourth consecutive year, was the engine of growth globally, increasing its hectarage of biotech crops more than any other country – an impressive record increase of 6.3 million hectares, up 21% from 2011, reaching 36.6 million hectares. Argentina retained its third place with 23.9 million hectares. Canada was fourth at 11.8 million hectares with 8.4 million hectares of canola at a record 97.5% adoption. India was fifth, growing a record 10.8 million hectares of Bt cotton with an adoption rate of 93%, In 2012, each of the top 10 countries planted more than 1 million hectares providing a broad foundation for future growth.

Fact 7.
Status of biotech crops in Africa.

The continent continued to make progress with South Africa increasing its biotech area by a record 0.6 million hectares to reach 2.9 million hectares; Sudan joined South Africa, Burkina Faso and Egypt, to bring the total number of African biotech countries commercializing biotech crops to four. Five countries, Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda conducted field trials of biotech crops, the penultimate step prior to approval for commercialization. The lack of appropriate, science-based and cost/time-effective regulatory systems continue to be the major constraint to adoption. Responsible, rigorous but not onerous, regulation is needed, particularly for small and poor developing countries.

Fact 8.
Status of biotech crops in EU.

Five EU countries planted a record 129,071 hectares of biotech Bt maize, up 13% from 2011. Spain led the EU with 116,307 hectares of Bt maize, up 20% from 2011 with a record 30% adoption rate in 2012.

Fact 9.
Benefits offered by biotech crops.

From 1996 to 2011, biotech crops contributed to Food Security, Sustainability and the Environment/Climate Change by: increasing crop production valued at US$98.2 billion; providing a better environment, by saving 473 million kg a.i. of pesticides; in 2011 alone reducing CO2 emissions by 23.1 billion kg, equivalent to taking 10.2 million cars off the road for one year; conserving biodiversity by saving 108.7 million hectares of land; and helped alleviate poverty for >15.0 million small farmers and their families totaling >50 million people, who are some of the poorest people in the world. Biotech crops are essential but are not a panacea and adherence to good farming practices such as rotations and resistance management, are a must for biotech crops as they are for conventional crops.

Fact 10.
Future prospects.

Cautiously optimistic with more modest annual gains likely due to the already high rates of adoption in the principal biotech crops in mature markets in both developing and industrial countries.


For more information about ISAAA, the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops Briefs, and other information resources, visit the ISAAA website at http://www.isaaa.org/.

Developing Countries Dominate Global Production of Biotech Crops

The world is different today than how it was 17 years ago. Seventeen years ago, there were only 5.8 billion people in the world (The World Bank). Today, the world’s population has grown to more than 7 billion (Population Reference Bureau), and is estimated to be at a staggering 8 billion by 2030, or 17 years from now. Today, the world has more to feed, clothe, and shelter. Doing this on limited and decreasing resources and inputs is an insurmountable task – a challenge that has been met with a variety of options, including biotech crop technology.

The recently released 2012 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops, authored by Clive James, ISAAA Board Chair, reports that an unprecedented 100-fold increase in global biotech crop plantings was recorded last year, from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 170.3 million hectares in 2012, making biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent history.

Seventeen years after the first biotech crop was commercialized, or almost two decades ago, developing countries, for the first time, have grown more biotech crops than industrial countries, producing 52 percent of the total global production in 2012. Of the 28 countries that planted biotech crops last year, 20 were developing, while only 8 industrial countries planted biotech crops, compared with 19 developing and 10 industrial countries in 2011.

From 1996 to 2012, millions of farmers in almost 30 countries worldwide made the decision to plant and replant biotech crops at an accumulated hectarage of more than 1.5 billion hectares. In 2012 alone, 17.3 million farmers grew biotech crops, up by 0.6 million from 2011, of which more than 90% or over 15 million are small, resource-poor farmers in developing countries.

Two new countries, both developing, planted biotech crops for the first time last year. Sudan planted Bt cotton, while Cuba grew Bt maize. Sudan is the fourth country in Africa to plant a biotech crop after South Africa, Burkina Faso, and Egypt. About 10,000 farmers were the initial beneficiaries of the technology who have an average of 1-2.5 hectares of land. In a similar development in Latin America, Cuba became the 11^th Latin American country to plant biotech crops. For the first time, Cuban farmers grew 3,000 hectares of hybrid Bt maize commercially.

Despite the enormous leap in biotech crop production of developing countries, the USA remained and continued its leadership in producing biotech crops in 2012 with 69.5 million hectares, an average adoption rate of ~90% across all biotech crops. Since 2006, the USA has planted eight biotech crops, namely: maize, soybean, cotton, canola, sugarbeet, alfalfa, papaya, and squash. 

Second to the USA, but emerging as a global leader in biotech crop production is Brazil, which produced 36.6 million hectares of biotech crops in 2012, a total of 6.3 million hectares more than its hectarage in 2011. For the fourth consecutive year, Brazil increased biotech crop plantings more than any other country in the world.

According to Clive James, the growth seen in global production of biotech crops is “contrary to the prediction of critics, who prior to the commercialization of the technology in 1996 prematurely declared that biotech crops were only for industrial countries, and would never be accepted and adopted by developing countries.” He added that risk-averse farmers put their trust and confidence in biotechnology because biotech crops deliver substantial, sustainable, socio-economic and environmental benefits. 

Biotech crops adoption from 1996 to 2011 has contributed to food security, sustainability and climate by increasing crop production valued at US$98.2 billion; providing a better environment by saving 473 million kg a.i. of pesticides; in 2011 alone, reducing CO₂ emissions by 23 billion kg, equivalent to taking 10.2 million cars off the road; conserving biodiversity by saving 108.7 million hectares of land; and helping poverty alleviation by helping more than 15 million small, resource-poor farmers and their families, totaling more than 50 million people who are some of the poorest in the world.

Farmers in India planted a record 10.8 million hectares of Bt cotton in 2012 with an adoption rate of 93%.

The near-term looks encouraging with new improved crops such as the first biotech drought tolerant maize approved for planting in the USA in 2013 and also the first planting of the stacked soybean in Brazil and neighboring countries in South America in 2013. Vitamin A enhanced Golden rice could be released in the Philippines by 2013/2014, subject to regulatory approval. Going forward, global growth of biotech crop hectares is likely to be more modest due to the already high rate of adoption in all the principal crops in mature markets in both developing and industrial countries, the author said.

For more information about ISAAA, the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops Briefs, and other information resources, visit the ISAAA website at http://www.isaaa.org/.

New ISAAA Publication: Adoption and Uptake Pathways of Biotech Crops in the Philippines

A team of researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) conducted a survey in 2011 to analyze how biotech corn farmers in the Philippines started to adopt the technology. The results of their study showed that peer and kinship systems facilitate the adoption and uptake pathways of biotech corn in selected provinces of Luzon.

Dr. Cleofe Torres and her team noted that the changes in the lives of farmers who adopted Bt corn include increased yield and income. They also found out that seed technicians played an important role in the adoption process as they convinced farmers to plant biotech crops. Traders, on the other hand, provided farmers with capital to buy seeds and other needed farm inputs. The farmers surveyed also said that they are anticipating the commercial release of other Bt crops such as Bt eggplant.

The results of the UPLB study are now published in a monograph entitled "Adoption and Update Pathways of Biotechnology Crops: The case of Biotech Corn Farmers in Selected Provinces of Luzon, Philippines" that ISAAA co-published with the College of Development communication, UPLB (CDC-UPLB) and the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and REsearch in Agriculture (SEARCA).

The monograph is available for free download from ISAAA's website at http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/adoption_and_uptake_pathways_of_bioech_crops/download/.

For more information materials, visit the biotech information resources page at ISAAA's website here: http://www.isaaa.org/resources/default.asp.