Latin America- the main driving engine to global GM crops

According to the statistics of ISAAA, a total of 27 countries have planted GM crops in 2013 amounting to a total area of 175 million hectares, which is a new historic record. There are 11 countries in Latin America having planted GM crops accounting for 41% of the world total number of countries; the total planted area of the countries in Latin America reaches 71.2 million hectares, accounting for 41% of the world total planted area of GM crops. The 11 countries are respectively Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Cuba and Costa Rica, where main GM crops include maize, soybean, cotton and canola.

In terms of planted area of GM crops, the top 5 countries in Latin America are respectively Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. The total planted area of the top 5 countries has reached 70.8 million hectares accounting for 99.4% of the total planted area of GM crops in Latin America, where Brazil and Argentina appear to be far ahead with their respective planted area of 40.3 million hectares and 24.4 million hectares ranking No.2 and No.3 globally following to the No.1 planted area of 70.1 million hectares in the US.

It has been the first time for Brazil to break through 40 million hectares. The growth of Brazil has been a driving force to the global growth for 5 consecutive years with its increased planted area exceeding all other countries. Additionally, Brazil achieved a breakthrough in the plantation of the 2.20 million hectare soybean of herbicide tolerant (HT) and insect resistance (IR) stacked traits while its locally cultivated anti-virus GM black crop to be commercialized soon

 This article is adapted from AgroPages' business magazine "2014 Latin America Focus", Please click here to download and view the full text.