The global land area used for genetically modified crops could rise by at least 10% this year from the previous year's total land area of 90 million hectares, due to growing adoption of biotech crops, the International Service For the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications or ISAAA said Tuesday.

The ISAAA is a not-for-profit organization that delivers the benefits of new agricultural biotechnology to developing countries. "We're optimistic it will be at least a double-digit improvement from last year," Randy Hautea, Manila-based global coordinator of ISAAA, told reporters on the sidelines of an international sugar forum in Manila.

"It will be safe and conservative to say biotech areas will increase by 10% this year," Hautea said, noting that areas planted with genetically modified crops improved by 11% to 90 million hectares in 2005, up from 81 million hectares in the previous year.

The growth will be driven mainly by expansion in genetically modified soybeans, cotton, corn and canola plantations, he said. Worldwide, areas planted with genetically altered soybeans account for 60% of total biotech areas, cotton accounts for 28%, canola with 15% and corn crops contribute 14%. In the Philippines, resistance to the commercial use of genetically modified corn has been steadily declining over the years since it was first introduced in 2003, Hautea said.

Areas planted with biotech corn totaled 70,000 hectares in 2005, a 34% improvement from the previous year, he said. In the past ten years, the use of genetically altered crops has resulted in global economic benefits of around $27 billion, and reduced more than 170 million kilograms of pesticide use, Hautea said. Genetically modified crops are also mostly herbicide resistant, he added.