Farmers of all types - from an Amish tobacco farmer in the United States to a corn farmer in the Philippines - continue to embrace biotech crops because they help improve living standards.

Amish farmer Daniel Dienner says he earns nearly twice as much planting a biotech nicotine-free tobacco as he would planting a conventional variety - $1.50 per pound vs. 80 cents per pound. Meanwhile, Filipino farmer Edwin Paraluman says he earns about 50 percent more by planting biotech corn than he did growing conventional varieties.

Their experience is shared by farmers from around the world. Perhaps the most telling statistic about the economic benefits of biotech crops is how quickly these global farmers have embraced the new technology.

An estimated 8.25 million farmers in 17 countries now plant biotech crops - up from 7 million farmers in 18 countries in 2003, according to the nonprofit International Association for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).

"This is an unwavering and resolute vote of confidence in the technology from … farmers, who are masters in risk aversion and have consistently chosen to plant an increasing hectarage of biotech crops year after year after year," wrote ISAAA chair Clive James in a January 2005 report, "Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2004."

Farmers have adopted the technology so quickly for several simple reasons: Biotech crops improve yields, cut costs and reduce spraying. Not only do these benefits improve farmers' bottom lines, but they also save time - improving their quality of life by giving them more time to spend with their families and to pursue other activities.

A study by a University of Minnesota food and trade policy analyst reported that the global commercial value of biotech crops in the 2003-2004 crop year was US$44 billion - a value that is expected to grow to $210 billion by the end of the decade.

"The international adoption and diffusion of biotech crops has gone global and is poised to transform production and development around the world," said C. Ford Runge, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy and Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Applied Economics and Law.

Several academic research studies have quantified the economic gains derived from planting biotech crops.

An October 2004 study by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) found that U.S. farmers who planted six genetically enhanced crops in 2003 - canola, corn, cotton, papaya, soybean and squash - earned an additional $1.9 billion more than what they have earned planting convention varieties. In addition, the enhanced varieties boosted crop yields by 5.3 billion pounds and reduced pesticide use by 46.4 million pounds.

"Whether it was papaya in Hawaii, cotton in Louisiana or soybeans in South Dakota, the benefits from growing biotech crops were significant," said Sujatha Sankula, the lead author of the study titled "Impacts on U.S. Agriculture of Biotechnology-Derived Crops Planted in 2003: An Update of 11 Case Studies."

An earlier NCFAP study, released in June 2003, found that the wide-scale adoption of three biotech crops in Europe - corn, potatoes and sugar beets - could increase farmer income by more than 1 billion euros, boost annual production by 17 million pounds and reduce pesticide spraying by 21.7 million pounds.

Several other studies and researchers have validated the economic and environmental benefits of biotech crops:
- In the Philippines, the net incomes of farmers who planted Bt corn were about 34 percent higher than the incomes of farmers who planted conventional corn, according to ISAAA. Bt maize could meet the subsistence requirement of a family of five in the Philippines, whereas conventional maize could not.

- In Spain, Bt corn yields were about 6.3 percent higher, on average, than conventional varieties, which resulted in extra income of $85 per acre, according to ISAAA.

- In Canada, planting of biotech canola in 2000 resulted in extra income of $5.80 per acre over conventional varieties, according to a study conducted by the Canola Council of Canada. Yields were 10 percent higher for biotech canola, or three bushels more per acre.

- Around the world between 1998 and 2001, Bt cotton growers earned an additional $1.7 billion, according to ISAAA. Yield increases for Bt cotton ranged from 5 percent to 10 percent in China, 10 percent or more in the United States and Mexico, and 25 percent in South Africa.

"It is important that a human face is put on the benefits of Bt cotton," James said. "For the average cotton holding of 1.7 hectares in the Makhathini Flats in South Africa, in a typical season, a woman farmer is relieved of 12 days of arduous spraying, saves over 1,000 liters of water [over 250 U.S. gallons] ... and increases her income by approximately $85 per season, through using Bt cotton rather than conventional cotton."

T.J. Buthelezi, a cotton farmer from South Africa who now plants biotech seeds, said, "Normally, at the end of the year, I would ask my wife how we are going to pay our bills. Now I ask her, how are we gonna spend this money?"