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Our Bureau

Overtakes China; global coverage tops 100 million hectares

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New Delhi Jan. 19 India has overtaken China to become the fifth largest grower of genetically modified (GM) crops by area.

According to worldwide data compiled by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), the total acreage under all GM crops crossed the 100 million hectares (mh) mark in 2006.

60-fold increase

"In 1996, farmers globally grew just 1.7 mh under biotech crops. In 2006, they planted 102 mh. This sixty-fold increase in coverage reflects the highest rate of adoption for any crop technology," Dr Clive James, Chairman of ISAAA, told presspersons, while presenting the "Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GM Crops: 2006" report here on Friday.

He said the number of biotech crop-growing countries went up to 22 in 2006, from six in 1996. Of the 22, there are eight countries where acreage exceeded one million hectares. And the report interestingly shows that there is not a single European country in this list.

The two top European countries by coverage are ranked No. 12 (Romania) and No. 14 (Spain), with just 0.1 mh each.

US tops

In contrast to the European indifference, if not hostility, to GM technology is the US, which accounted for 55 per cent of the total area under biotech crops.

Herbicide tolerants

Among individual crops, herbicide-tolerant soyabean covered as much as 58.6 mh of the total 102 mh area under GM crops.

This was followed by maize (25.1 mh, including the herbicide-tolerant and Bt versions), cotton (13.5 mh, covering all versions) and herbicide-tolerant canola. "Sixty-four per cent of the world's soyabean area is now under biotech hybrids/varieties, while these work out to 38 per cent in case of cotton, 18 per cent in canola and 17 per cent in maize," Dr James pointed out.

Just Bt cotton

As regards India, the entire 3.8 mh under GM crops is under Bt cotton and it represents 60 per cent of the country's total 6.3 mh area under cotton hybrids.

Between 2002 and 2006, the total coverage of Bt cotton has increased from just 50,000 hectares from 3.8 mh.

The major Bt cotton-growing States were Maharashtra (1.84 mh), Andhra Pradesh (0.83 mh), Gujarat (0.47 mh) and Madhya Pradesh (0.31 mh).

More Stories on : Cultivation | Bio-tech & Genetics

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