Area under GM crops in world rises 10% in 2010

The global area planted with genetically modified (GM) crops increased by 10% in 2010 to 148m hectares - equivalent to about 10% of the world's total area of cropland, according to the annual report released Tuesday by International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), stated media reports. The increase was the second highest recorded since the commercial growing of GM crops started in 1996.

In just 15 years after commercialization, accumulated biotech crops exceeded 1bn hectares in 2010, a milestone that signifies biotech crops are here to stay, according to ISAAA. The 1 billionth hectare was planted in 2010 by one of the 15.4m farmers in 29 countries who now benefit from the technology. For comparison, 1bn hectares is roughly equivalent to the vast land area of China, or of the United States. With an unprecedented 87-fold increase between 1996 and 2010, biotech crops are the fastest-adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture.

Four crops - - maize, soyabeans, cotton and canola (oilseed rape) - - dominate the GM crop sector, the report stated further.