The global market value of biotechnology crops in 2007 reached $6.9 billion, or $.84 billion over that of 2006.

The $6.9 billion represented 16 percent of the $42.2-billion global crop protection market in 2007, reported Dr. Clive James, chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).

New York-based ISAAA is a not-for-profit organization with an international network of centers designed to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and poverty by sharing knowledge and crop biotechnology applications.

Dr. James reported the strides of the global “biotechnology revolution” at a recent seminar on “Progress and Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2007” at the Hotel InterContinental Manila in Makati City.

During the seminar, the Welsh-born research administrator/scientist also lauded the Philippines for being among the biotech “mega-countries” (those growing GM crops in 50,000 hectares or more); and described the period 2006-2015 as the “biotechnology decade of Asia.”

Dr. James said the $6.9 billion biotech crop market in 2007 was comprised of $3.2 billion for biotech maize, $2.6 billion for biotech soybean, $0.9 billion for biotech cotton, and $0.2 billion for biotech canola.

Of last year’s biotech crop market, $5.2 billion was in industrial countries and $1.6 billion was in the developing countries.
Since GM crops were first commercialized in 1996, the accumulated global value for the 11-year period is estimated at $42.2 billion.

“The global value of the biotech crop market is projected at $7.5 billion for 2008,” said Dr. James, who has lived and worked for the past 25 years in developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, devoting his efforts to issues on global food security and crop biotechnology.

He cited the Philippines for having sustained its place among the world’s biotech “mega-countries”. The country planted transgenic corn in 300,000 ha in 2007, up by 50 percent from the 200,000 ha in 2006.

Globally, as of last year, about 12 million farmers had planted 114.3 million ha to biotech crops, up by 12.3 million (12 percent) from the previous year’s area.
The United States topped the “mega-countries”, devoting 57.7 million ha to biotech soybean, maize, cotton, canola, squash, papaya, and alfalfa.

It was followed by Argentina, with 19.1 million ha planted to soybean, maize, and cotton. Third was Brazil (15 million ha devoted to soybean and cotton).

The other “mega-countries” were Canada (seven million ha), India (6.2 million ha), China(3.8 million ha), Paraguay (2.6 million ha), South Africa (1.8 million ha), the Philippines (300,000 ha), Australia (100,000 ha), Spain (100,000 ha), and Mexico (100,000 ha).

The other countries that planted GM crops in lesser areas were Columbia, Chile, France, Honduras, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, Slovakia, Romania, and Poland. Chile and Poland planted GM crops for he first time last year.

Dr. James also said that if the period 1996-2005 was the “biotech decade” of the Americas, the 2006-2015 period will likely feature strong growth in Asia led by India, China, and new countries such as Vietnam.

He projected that the number of biotech countries, crops, traits, area, and farmers will grow substantially in the second decade of adoption.

The ISAAA official concluded: “With increasing food prices globally, the benefits of biotech crops have never been more important. Already those farmers who began adopting biotech crops a few years ago are beginning to see socioeconomic advantages compared to their peers who have not adopted the crop.”