ISAAA 2018 Report Reveals Biotech Crops Continue to Provide Solutions to Hunger, Malnutrition, and Climate Change

A total of 70 countries adopted biotech crops through cultivation and importation in 2018, the 23rd year of continuous biotech crop adoption, according to the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2018 (ISAAA Brief 54) released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) on August 22, 2019. Twenty-six countries (21 developing and 5 industrialized countries) planted 191.7 million hectares of biotech crops, which added 1.9 million hectares to the record of plantings in 2017. The continuous adoption of biotech crops by farmers worldwide indicate that biotech crops continue to help meet global challenges of hunger, malnutrition, and climate change.

In 2018, biotech soybeans reached the highest adoption worldwide, covering 50% of the global biotech crop area.

In 2018, it was reported in the United Nation’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World that hunger is growing year after year for three consecutive years, and at the levels equivalent to the records a decade ago. Furthermore, the 2017 Global Report on Food Crises revealed that hunger and malnutrition continue to rise, with around 108 million individuals in 48 countries at risk or in severe food insecurity. Biotech crops, developed with improved traits such as increased yield, more resistance to pests, improved nutrition, among others, are undeniably necessary to address these global challenges affecting the lives of so many families globally.

“GM technology has contributed to all facets of food security. By increasing yields and reducing losses, it contributed to food availability for more families. By enabling farmers to improve their processes and join the modern supply chain, it improved physical access to food. Through raising farmer and rural incomes, it improved economic access to food. Through rigorous standards of food safety and hygiene programs, it contributed to better food utilization,” said Dr. Paul S. Teng, ISAAA Board Chair. “While agricultural biotechnology is not the only key in enhancing global food security, it is an important scientific tool in the multi-disciplinary toolkit.”

Biotech crop plantings have increased ~113-fold since 1996, with an accumulated area of 2.5 billion hectares, showing that biotechnology is the fastest adopted crop technology in the world. In countries with long years of high adoption, particularly the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and India, adoption rates of major crops are at levels close to 100%, indicating that farmers favor this crop technology over the conventional varieties. More farmers’ and consumers’ needs, more diverse biotech crops with various traits became available in the market in 2018. These biotech crops include potatoes with non-bruising, non-browning, reduced acrylamide and late blight resistant traits; insect resistant and drought tolerant sugarcane; non-browning apples; and high oleic acid canola and safflower.

In 2018, developing countries planted more biotech crops than industrial countries.

The ISAAA report also highlighted the following key findings:

• The top 5 countries with the largest area of biotech crops planted (USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and India) collectively occupied 91% of the global biotech crop area.
• Biotech soybeans reached the highest adoption worldwide, covering 50% of the global biotech crop area.
• The area of biotech crops with stacked traits continued to increase and occupied 42% of the global biotech area.
• Farmers in 10 Latin American countries planted 79.4 million hectares of biotech crops.
• Nine countries in Asia and the Pacific planted 19.13 million hectares of biotech crops.
• In Asia, Indonesia planted for the first time a drought tolerant sugarcane developed through a public (University of Jember) and private (Ajinomoto Ltd.) partnership.
• The Kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) joined South Africa and Sudan in planting biotech crops in Africa, with the introduction of IR cotton. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi granted approvals for planting IR cotton opening Africa to biotech crop adoption.
• In Europe, Spain and Portugal continued to adopt biotech maize to control European corn borer.
• More area planted to biotech crops for farmer and consumer needs included potatoes with non-bruising, non-browning, reduced acrylamide and late blight resistant traits; non-browning apples; insect resistant eggplant; and low lignin alfalfa, among others.
• New crops and trait combinations in farmer fields include insect resistant and drought tolerant sugarcane; high oleic acid canola and safflower.
• Various food, feed and processing approvals for Golden Rice, Bt rice, herbicide tolerant cotton, low gossypol cotton, among others.
• Cultivation approvals for planting in 2019 include new generation herbicide tolerant cotton and soybean, low gossypol cotton, RR and low lignin alfalfa, omega-3 canola, and IR cowpea, among others.

Photo Source: ISAAA Image Gallery

With the continuously increasing adoption of biotech crops worldwide, farmers are at the forefront of reaping numerous benefits. "We were fed up with weeding and spraying pesticides to control bollworms and weeds. When the technology was introduced, we rapidly picked it up," said Frans Mallela, a farmer from Limpopo Province, South Africa. Le Thanh Hai, one of the early adopters of biotech maize in Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam, said that biotech maize has helped revive maize farming in their province and stressed that many farmers now grow biotech maize because of its benefits. Rosalie Ellasus, a farmer from Pangasinan, Philippines, said that she adopted Bt maize because she gained more yield with less production cost, compared to conventional maize varieties. “There was not even a trace of pests considering that we did not apply insecticide. Furthermore, we no longer need to visit our maize field every day and this gives us peace of mind,” Ellasus added.

The Brief 54 Executive Summary is downloadable for free from the ISAAA website. To purchase an electronic copy of full Brief 54, send an e-mail to publications@isaaa.org.

5 Questions with Dr. C.D. Mayee, the Farmer's Son Who Became India's Champion of Biotech

In order to succeed, one has to hold on to his dreams and aspirations and learn to work hard despite the difficulties along the road to success. These words of wisdom seemed to be the guiding principle of a young boy from Sakharkherda who had to join farmer caravans to sell the cotton from his father's farm.

The young boy, so full of inspiration and desire to help his father and their family live a better life, held on to his dream of becoming an agriculturist and is now one of India's strongest advocates of science-based agriculture. Dr. Charudatta Digambarrao Mayee, Dr. C.D. Mayee to most, is a renowned cotton scientist, and a firm believer that new tools can help in the advancement of Indian agriculture.

Dr. Mayee has guided more than 50 graduate students, wrote books and monographs, published over 200 scientific publications in reputable journals, and promoted the production technologies of cotton, groundnut, sunflower, coarse cereals, and remained active in sports, games, cultural activities, and helping students. But how did Dr. Mayee become India's top biotech champion? In this edition of ISAAA's 5 Questions with... Series, we asked Dr. Mayee five questions to get a glimpse of his advocacy and the road he travelled to become a biotech champion.

How did you get into agriculture and biotech?

The young Dr. Mayee

I was born in Sakharkherda, a small village in Buldana District, Maharashtra State, India, to a big extended family of 30-35 people. We totally depended on agriculture, and my childhood aspirations have been to get educated and earn money to help my father who was planting cotton, groundnut, pigeon pea, and sorghum, which are all rain-fed crops. As a child, I saw the ups and downs in our farm output due to good or bad monsoon. The only cash crop was cotton, which used to be sold to ginners in the nearest city some 60 km away. 

Even in those days when I was in 8th standard, I remember to have gone with the caravan of bullock carts (it was difficult to travel all 60 km alone, and farmers selling cotton traveled in caravans) full of cotton to sell in the nearby city. If the cotton season was good, we got new clothes, otherwise, we will wait until the next good crop season. These hardships made me resolve that I will go to agriculture in college and help my father raise the productivity in our farm—regardless of the monsoon—so that our family could live better.

"If the cotton season was good, we got new clothes, otherwise, we will wait until the next good crop season." - Dr. C.D. Mayee

But sending me to college would be a big financial burden. My father never studied beyond 7th standard because my grandfather chose him to help on the family’s farm. Despite this, my father was keen on sending me to college to get an agriculture degree, and I appreciate his vision for my aspiration. He worked hard to support this and even got a loan against our land. My background in farming helped me to get admission in an agriculture college, Akola, which was 80 km from my village. Suddenly, I was in a hostel and was confronted with English as the medium of education in agricultural subjects. Field activities became easier for me than studying theories because of English, but I got accustomed to the studies. Fungi, bacteria, viruses, and such microorganisms made me curious about biology and I decided to study them, choosing Plant Pathology as my major subject. A small aspiration to study agriculture, the science of crop cultivation, landed me into microbe-based plant pathology as a career.

Dr. Mayee was born into a big extended family.

What was the greatest challenge that your job has presented to you?

My family, especially my father, was very happy and supported me when I continued my education in agricultural sciences. I did not realize that he had to sell part of our land so I could continue with my post-graduate education. I decided then that I will not be a burden to the family. I took on whatever small jobs I can get to earn enough to enter the famous “Pusa Institute,” the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for post-graduate studies. Admission to that Institute was the ambition of every student in the late 60s, and I was no exception. The Institute was famous due to Drs. M.S Swaminathan, A.B. Joshi, and other luminaries of agricultural research. At IARI, I was selected for an administrative position, but I decided to do my Ph.D. in Plant Pathology. 

Dr. Mayee with his wife Mrs. Hema Mayee during his Post Doc, AVH Fellow at University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany in 1980s.

After doing my Ph.D., the big challenge was to get my ideal job due to political instability in the country. Somehow, I got one in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in vegetable research. My mind was not into it, and I kept asking myself how I could help farmers like my father in increasing their productivity and sustainability. Five years later, I got lucky when I became a professor in a small town called Parbhani in the rain-fed area of Maharashtra not too far away from my village. I built a school for students who worked in disease management of major rain-fed crops such as cotton, sorghum, pigeon pea, pearl millet, and sunflower. However, I could not forget my early attraction to cotton, and my desire to conduct research and development on this crop became intense.

"I kept asking myself how I could help farmers like my father in increasing their productivity and sustainability." - Dr. C.D. Mayee

The greatest challenge for me was to protect cotton from parawilt, bollworms, and boll rot because every alternate year there was a bollworm epidemic and farmers resort to heavy pesticide sprays. This doubles production costs which exceed the income from cotton. I needed to do something for the cotton farmers so that their profits improve. Two mega-projects were planned and executed under my leadership in Marathwada Agriculture University, Parbhani around 1997 to 1998. One project involved the total adoption of a 500-acre village for a demonstration of the cost-saving technologies so that the profit increases without compromising on yield. The other project was conducted with the help of an expert from Israel, which was implemented with high input, highly mechanized cotton cultivation demonstration under drip irrigation on 250 acres contiguous plot for those farmers who could only afford limited irrigation. Both projects were successful and useful, and the farmers learned that the profitability of cotton cultivation can be enhanced by good practices. These cotton demonstration technologies are the major challenge in my 25 years at the University.

Why do you think there is a place for biotechnology in your country?

Cotton gave me an opportunity to learn about biotechnology as a tool to manage pests and diseases. In August 1998, while I was the Vice-Chancellor, scientists from Mahyco Life Sciences in Jalna sent the request to conduct the Bt cotton trial in the University farm as mandated by the regulatory bodies.

My knowledge about the technology was limited, so I went through the relevant literature and knew that our cotton farmers will be overjoyed if they get bollworm-resistant cotton without having to spray the crop with pesticides. I allowed Mahyco to test three Bt cotton hybrids in the university farm despite severe opposition against the trial. This was my induction to biotechnology. 

Dr. C.D. Mayee joined CICR in 2000.

In 2000, I joined the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) in Nagpur as Director, and this gave the opportunity to boost the technology in the Institute, moving forward with the commercialization as a member of the apex regulatory body, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC). I am proud that the son of a cotton farmer assisted in the commercial release of the first genetically modified crop—Bt cotton—in India in 2002. Now, millions of farmers have benefited from the technology. I also take pride in creating the necessary infrastructure in CICR Nagpur. Under my guidance, CICR developed the first indigenous Bt detection kit which got patents in many countries outside India. This kit helps extension workers in detecting illegal Bt cotton production in India.

"I am proud that the son of a cotton farmer assisted in the commercial release of the first genetically modified crop—Bt cotton—in India in 2002. Now, millions of farmers have benefited from the technology." - Dr. C.D. Mayee

After the release of Bt cotton in India and continuously studying its impact for the last 17 years, I have a firm belief that our smallholder farmers need similar technologies to enhance their income. Pest and diseases which damage the crops of poor farmers can be efficiently managed by tools such as biotechnology. In India, we have several opportunities for biotech crops such as Golden Rice, iron-rich banana, and Indian mustard. These crops have traits that help in pest and disease management, nutritive food development, nutrient use efficiency, and most importantly, abiotic stress tolerance such as drought, salinity, and climate change. My country and our farmers need the technology, but the opposition is delaying it. I am optimistic that one day it will all be clear because the Indian scientific community is competent and will deliver the technologies in the future.

Dr. C.D. Mayee with Dr. Ingo Potrykus

What is your vision for India's agricultural productivity?

I am fortunate to have seen the productivity gains of India’s crops, animal, and fisheries sectors. After gaining independence, the country faced the challenge of feeding 330 million people. Droughts in mid-1960 made the situation grim, and we depended on imported red wheat and milo sorghum from the United States.

Then the Green Revolution began, and new wheat and rice cultivars developed in the country reached the farmers and their productivity increased. Hybrid technology revolutionized the production of millets, maize, cotton, sunflower, vegetables, and many other crops. Tissue culture techniques coupled with micro-irrigation, polyhouse technology further boosted the production of fruits and flowers. Thus, in the last 70 years, India became not only self-sufficient in food but has become a net exporter of several agricultural products. The cotton production, which was stagnant at 300 kg lint per ha for 20 years until 2002 saw a major change due to Bt technology and production and productivity doubled in the first decade of the 21st Century.

Dr. Mayee with Bhagirath Choudhary, Founder Director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC).

However, I am worried as there are many crops where productivity is either stagnant or declining due to several factors such as climate change, water crisis, soil degradation, and lack of new technologies. To meet the demand of the country’s growing population, it is time to adopt biotechnology tools to break the yield barriers. Realizing this need, I set up a scientific society called South Asia Biotechnology Centre (www.sabc.asia) to identify, pilot, scale up and commercialize farm technologies necessary to provide solutions to crop problems that cannot be tackled by conventional technologies. I have also been nurturing a young team of scientists of SABC who contribute to improving science literacy and bridging the gap between science and society. 

Dr. Mayee talks to young students.

Why are you a believer of biotechnology?

I am a firm believer of biotech because of my initial association with Bt cotton. Between 1999-2002, I visited 55 coordinated Bt cotton trials in 11 different locations. I evaluated nearly 145 field trials in farmers’ fields. All of them were so impressive that the technology was deeply imprinted in my mind. I believe that farm productivity constraints due to biotic, abiotic stresses, as well as issues of quality production, could be very well addressed by breeding methods developed through biotechnology.

India’s Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Mr. Sharad Pawar launched the report, "Adoption and Uptake Pathways of Bt Cotton in India" authored by Dr. Mayee and Bhagirath Choudhary in the presence of Dr. BR Barwale, Chairman of Mahyco and Dr. KR Kranthi, Director of Central Institute for Cotton Research (ICAR-CICR).

My belief in these technologies was further strengthened when under the John Templeton Foundation project, I conducted a survey of 2,400 farmers in three diverse States who were cultivating Bt cotton. They seemed to have one voice in saying that they need the technology in other crops, too. Other people speak about the technology, but what do they know? As a farmer’s son, I have faith in our farmers and know that what they say is true.


About Dr. C.D. Mayee (from the SABC website):
Dr. Mayee is the President of the Board of Directors of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), New Delhi and concurrently serving as Vice President of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi. Dr Mayee obtained his agricultural degrees from Maharashtra and PhD specialized in plant pathology and epidemiology from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He commenced his career in plant pathology research at IARI and worked in various capacities in Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack; Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana; Maharashtra Agricultural University (MAU) Parbhani for nearly 30 years. The research, teaching and extension experience led him to work as Vice Chancellor-MAU Parbhani; Director-Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) Nagpur and Agriculture Commissioner, Government of India, New Delhi before retiring as the Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India. Though specialized in Plant Pathology, Dr. Mayee committed himself for the growth of Indian Agriculture. In Plant Pathology, he guided 20 PhD and more than 38 MSc students, wrote books and monograph, published over 200 scientific publications in journals of repute and served the cause through development of the subject. During his scientific career, Dr. Mayee promoted the production technologies of cotton, groundnut, sunflower, coarse cereals and always remained active in sports, games, cultural activities, helping students in placement. Dr. CD Mayee can be reached at: charumayee@sabc.asia


5 Questions With… is a continuing series on the ISAAA Blog. A new personality will be featured every month, so watch out for our next feature!

Written/Compiled by Dr. C.D. Mayee, and Clement Dionglay, Project Associate at ISAAA Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology.

Biotech/GM Crops Surge to a New Peak of 185.1 Million Hectares in 2016

Global area rebounds from 2015 as farmers continue to adopt biotech crops 

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) has released the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2016, its annual report showcasing the 110-fold increase in the global adoption rate of biotech crops in 21 years of commercialization – growing from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 185.1 million hectares in 2016. The 2016 Report continues to demonstrate the long-standing benefits of biotech crops for farmers in developing and industrialized countries, as well as consumer benefits of recently approved and commercialized varieties. 

“Biotech crops have become a vital agricultural resource for farmers around the world because of the immense benefits for improved productivity and profitability, as well as conservation efforts,” said Dr. Paul S. Teng, ISAAA Board Chair. “With the commercial approvals and plantings of new varieties of biotech potatoes and apples, consumers will begin to enjoy direct benefits of biotechnology with produce that is not likely to spoil or be damaged, which in turn has the potential to substantially reduce food waste and consumer grocery costs.”

The adoption of biotech crops has reduced CO2 emissions equal to removing ~12 million cars from the road annually in recent years; conserved biodiversity by removing 19.4 million hectares of land from agriculture in 2015; and decreased the environmental impact with a 19% reduction in herbicide and insecticide use (Brookes and Barfoot, 2017, Forthcoming). Additionally, in developing countries, planting biotech crops has helped alleviate hunger by increasing the incomes for 18 million small farmers and their families, bringing improved financial stability to more than 65 million people. 

“Biotechnology is one of the tools necessary in helping farmers grow more food on less land. However, the promises of biotech crops can only be unlocked if farmers are able to buy and plant these crops, following a scientific approach to regulatory reviews and approvals.”

- Dr. Randy A. Hautea, ISAAA Global Coordinator

As more varieties of biotech crops are approved and commercialized for use by farmers, ISAAA expects to see adoption rates continue to climb and to benefit farmers in developing countries. For example, among African nations where regulatory processes have traditionally created barriers to biotech crop adoption rates, advances are being realized. In 2016, South Africa and Sudan increased the planting of biotech maize, soybean and cotton to 2.66 million hectares from 2.29 million hectares in 2015. Elsewhere on the continent, a new wave of acceptance is emerging as Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Swaziland and Uganda make advances in regulatory review and commercial approvals for a variety of biotech crops.

“Even with a long history of regulatory barriers, African farmers continue to adopt biotech crops because of the value they are realizing from the stability and productivity of biotech varieties,” said Hautea. “As more countries move forward with regulatory reviews for crops such as bananas, cowpeas and sorghum, we believe biotech crop plantings will continue to grow in Africa and elsewhere.”

Also in 2016, Brazil increased biotech area of maize, soybean, cotton and canola by a remarkable 11% – maintaining its ranking as the second largest producer of biotech crops after the United States. In Brazil, biotech soybeans account for 32.7 million hectares of the 91.4 million hectares grown worldwide.



For 2016, ISAAA also reports that there were improvements in the commercialization and plantings of biotech fruits and vegetables with direct consumer benefits. These included the commercial approvals of the Innate™ Russet Burbank Gen 2 potatoes that were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale in the United States and the Simplot Gen 1 White Russet™ brand potatoes that were approved by Health Canada for fresh market sale in Canada. These biotech potato varieties have lower levels of asparagine, which reduces the creation of acrylamide during high-heat cooking. Additionally, the first commercially saleable quantities of Arctic® Apples were harvested in 2016, stored over the winter and are projected to be sold in U.S. grocery stores in 2017.

Additional highlights from ISAAA’s 2016 report include:

• Global area rebounded in 2016 with 185.1 million hectares of biotech crops versus 179. 7 million hectares 2015, when global area for all crops was down, and 181.5 million hectares in 2014. 
• In 2016, 26 countries in total, including 19 developing and 7 industrial countries, grew biotech crops. Developing countries grew 54% of biotech crops, compared to 46% for industrial nations. 
• Eight countries in Asia and the Pacific, including China and India, grew 18.6 million hectare of biotech crops in 2016.
• 10 countries in Latin America, including Paraguay and Uruguay, grew a combined 80 million hectares of biotech crops in 2016. 
• In 2016, the leading countries growing biotech crops continued to be represented by the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and India. Combined, these five countries planted 91% of the global biotech crop area. 
• Four countries in Europe -- Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic Slovakia -- grew more than 136,000 hectares of biotech maize in 2016, an increase of 17% from 2015, reflecting EU’s need for insect resistant maize. 
• Biotech crops with stacked traits accounted for 41% of global area, second only to herbicide tolerance at 47%.
• Biotech soybean varieties accounted for 50% of global biotech crop area. Based on global area for individual crops, 78% of soybean, 64% of cotton, 26% of maize and 24% of canola planted in the world were biotech varieties.
• Countries with over 90% adoption of biotech soybean are U.S.A, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, South Africa, and Uruguay; close to or over 90% adoption of biotech maize are USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, South Africa, and Uruguay; over 90% of biotech cotton are USA, Argentina, India, China, Pakistan, South Africa, Mexico, Australia, and Myanmar; and with 90% or more of biotech canola are USA and Canada.

For more information and other details about the report, visit the Brief 52 page at the ISAAA website.

2015 Marks Two Billion Hectares of Biotech Crop Plantings

Farmers Reap >US$150 Billion from Advances in Biotech Crops over 20 Years

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) has released this week its annual report detailing the adoption of biotech crops, 20th Anniversary of the Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops (1996-2015) and Biotech Crop Highlights in 2015, showcasing the global increase in biotech hectarage from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 179.7 million hectares in 2015. This 100-fold increase in just 20 years makes biotechnology the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times, reflecting farmer satisfaction with biotech crops.

Since 1996, 2 billon hectares of arable land – a massive area more than twice the landmass of China, 

or the United States – have been planted with biotech crops. Additionally, it is estimated that farmers in up to 28 countries have reaped more than US$150 billion in benefits from biotech crops since 1996. This has helped alleviate poverty for up to 16.5 million small farmers and their families annually totaling about 65 million people, who are some of the poorest people in the world.

“More farmers are planting biotech crops in developing countries precisely because biotech crops are a rigorously-tested option for improving crop yields,” said Clive James, founder and emeritus chair of ISAAA, who has authored the ISAAA report for the past two decades. “Despite claims from opponents that biotechnology only benefits farmers in industrialized countries, the continued adoption of the technology in developing countries disproves that” James added.

For the fourth consecutive year, developing countries planted more biotech crops (14.5 million hectares) than industrialized countries. In 2015, Latin American, Asian and African farmers grew biotech crops on 54 percent of global biotech hectarage (97.1 million hectares of 179.7 million biotech hectares) and of the 28 countries that planted biotech crops, 20 were developing nations. Annually, up to 18 million farmers, 90 percent of whom were small, resource-poor growers in developing countries, benefited from planting biotech crops from 1996 to 2015.

“China is just one example of biotechnology’s benefits for farmers in developing countries. Between 1997 and 2014, biotech cotton varieties brought an estimated $17.5 billion worth of benefits to Chinese cotton farmers, and they realized $1.3 billion in 2014 alone,” explained ISAAA Global Coordinator, Randy Hautea.

Also in 2015, India became the leading cotton producer in the world with much of its growth attributed to biotech Bt cotton. India is the largest biotech cotton country in the world with 11.6 million hectares planted in 2015 by 7.7 million small farmers. In 2014 and 2015, an impressive 95 percent of India’s cotton crop was planted with biotech seed; China’s adoption in 2015 was 96 percent.

“Farmers, who are traditionally risk-averse, recognize the value of biotech crops, which offer benefits to farmers and consumers alike, including drought tolerance, insect and disease resistance, herbicide tolerance, and increased nutrition and food quality,” Hautea added. “Moreover, biotech crops contribute to more sustainable crop production systems that address concerns regarding climate change and global food security.”

Following a remarkable run of 19 years of consecutive growth from 1996 to 2014, with 12 years of double-digit growth, the global hectarage of biotech crops peaked at 181.5 million hectares in 2014, compared with 179.7 million hectares in 2015, equivalent to a net marginal decrease of 1 percent. This change is principally due to an overall decrease in total crop hectarage, associated with low prices for commodity crops in 2015. ISAAA anticipates that total crop hectarage will increase when crop prices improve. For example, Canada has projected that canola hectarage in 2016 will revert to the higher level of 2014. Other factors affecting biotech hectarage in 2015 include the devastating drought in South Africa, which led to a massive 23 percent decrease of 700,000 hectares in intended plantings in 2015. The drought in eastern and southern Africa in 2015/2016 puts up to 15 to 20 million poor people at risk for food insecurity and compels South Africa, usually a maize exporter, to rely on maize imports.

Additional highlights from ISAAA’s 2015 report include:

• New biotech crops were approved and/or commercialized in several countries, including the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Myanmar.
• The United States saw a number of firsts, including the commercialization of new products such as:
• Innate™ Generation 1 potatoes, with lower levels of acrylamide, a potential carcinogen, and resistance to bruising. InnateTM Generation 2, approved in 2015, also has late blight resistance. It is noteworthy that the potato is the fourth most important food crop in the world.
• Arctic® Apples that do not brown when sliced. 
• The first non-transgenic genome-edited crop to be commercialized globally, SU Canola™, was planted in the United States. 
• The first-time approval of a GM animal food product, GM salmon, for human consumption.
• Biotech crops with multiple traits, often called “stacked traits,” were planted on 58.5 million hectares, representing 33 percent of all biotech hectares planted and a 14 percent year-over-year increase.
• Vietnam planted a stacked-trait biotech Bt and herbicide-tolerant maize as its first biotech crop.
• Biotech DroughtGard™ maize, first planted in the United States in 2013, increased 15-fold from 50,000 hectares in 2013 to 810,000 hectares reflecting high farmer acceptance. 
• Sudan increased Bt cotton hectarage by 30 percent to 120,000 hectares, while various factors precluded a higher hectarage in Burkina Faso. 
• Eight African countries field-tested, pro-poor, priority African crops, the penultimate step prior to approval.

Looking ahead to the future of biotechnology in agriculture, ISAAA has identified three key opportunities to realize continued growth in adoption of biotech crops, which are as follows:·

• High rates of adoption (90 percent to 100 percent) in current major biotech markets leave little room for expansion. However, there is a significant potential in other “new” countries for selected products, such as biotech maize, which has a potential of approximately 100 million more hectares globally, 60 million hectares in Asia, of which 35 million is in China alone, plus 35 million hectares in Africa. 
• More than 85 potential new products in the pipeline are now being field-tested; including a biotech drought tolerant maize from the WEMA project (Water Efficient Maize for Africa) expected to be released in Africa in 2017, Golden Rice in Asia, and fortified bananas and pest-resistant cowpea in Africa. 
• CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeats) a new powerful genome editing technology has significant comparative advantages over conventional and GM crops in four domains: precision, speed, cost and regulation. When combined with other advances in crop sciences, CRISPR could increase crop productivity in a “sustainable intensification” mode on the 1.5 billion hectares of global arable land, and make a vital contribution to global food security.

For more information and other details about the 2015 report, visit www.isaaa.org.