January 21, 2011

Brazil posts highest rate of transgenics adoption in history

Three quarters of the area farmed with soy and more than half of the corn-planted area have used GM seeds in Brazil's 2010/11 season, according to the study performed by Celeres.

Three out of every four hectares planted with soy in Brazil in 2010/11 crop season were sowed with GM seeds, as revealed by the 2nd Monitoring of the adoption of agricultural biotechnology in Brazil, carried out by Celeres consulting company. Considering also the area cultivated with transgenic summer corn seeds, winter corn and cotton, this is the highest rate of adoption of transgenics in the history of the national agriculture. And, according to Celeres, it tends to increase even more over the next years.

In the case of soy, for the current crop season Celeres forecasts that 18.1 million hectares are planted with transgenic herbicide-tolerant soy, which represents 76.2% of the total area sown with the oilseed. "Farmers are encouraged by a favorable scenario in quotes and must sow 23.7 million hectares with soy in the 2010/11 season," says Anderson Galvao, director of Celeres.

Corn crops, however, should occupy 1.22 million hectares-an area 45.5% larger than in 2009/10 season. Out of this area, 325 thousand hectares will be planted with genetically modified varieties containing insect resistance technologies, herbicide tolerance or both technologies stacked.

Estimates on corn indicate that transgenic hybrids will occupy 57.2% of the total area, considering both the summer crop and the mid-season (safrinha) winter crop.

In the case of summer corn, the total area farmed with insect-resistant transgenic seeds represents 44.4% of the total area. "The delay in releasing traits containing herbicide-tolerant technology limited the access to that technology this crops season, but it should be more present in the winter mid-season crop," explains Anderson Galvao. For winter corn, estimates are that 75.4% of the area are farmed with transgenic hybrids, when, according to Celeres, the insect-resistance technology is more used.