January 30, 2004

 

 

Philippines Set Aside Massive Acreage For GM Corn

 

The Philippines used a massive 20,000 hectares of land for planting genetically engineered (GM) Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) corn in 2003.

 

According to biotechnology research group International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), the country was one of the 11 developing countries and seven other industrial countries that planted Genetically Modified crops last year in about 67.7 million hectares.

 

Bt corn, which was developed to resist Asiatic corn borers, was distributed commercially in the Philippines beginning last year after obtaining approval from the government in late 2002.

 

The transgenic crop, produced by US-based seed company Monsanto, was the first biotech crop to be approved for commercial planting in the Philippines, and is one of the first biotech food crops to be approved for planting in Asia.

 

The planting of Bt corn in the Philippines were noted in the provinces of Bukidnon, South Cotabato and Isabela, where the field tests were earlier conducted.

 

Based on the 2003 global status report of commercialized transgenic crops issued this week by ISAAA's Southeast Asian Center based in Manila, the global area of transgenic crops continued to grow for the seventh consecutive year at a sustained double-digit growth rate of 15 per cent compared with 12 per cent in 2002.

 

"The 67.7 million hectares of GM crops in 2003 was grown by at least 7 million farmers in 18 countries, an increase from 6 million farmers in 16 countries in 2002," it said in the report, a copy of which was obtained by the Philippines News Agency.

 

The increase in area between 2002 and 2003 of 15 per cent is equivalent to 9 million hectares or 22 million acres.

 

ISAAA said that from 1996 to 2003, the global area of transgenic crops increased 40-folds or from 1.7 million hectares to 67.7 million hectares, with an increasing proportion grown by developing countries.

 

"Almost one-third (30 per cent) of the global transgenic crop area of 67.7 million hectares in 2003, equivalent to over 20 million hectares, was grown in developing countries where growth continued to be strong," it said.

 

The number of countries growing GM crops has increased steadily from 6 in 1996, to 9 in 1998, to 13 in 2001, and 18 in 2003.

 

Globally, in 2003, ISAAA noted that growth continued in all four commercialized GM crops which are soybean, maize, cotton and canola.

 

It said GM soybean occupied 41.4 million hectares (61 per cent of global GM area) or up from 36.5 million hectares in 2002 while GM maize was planted on 15.5 million hectares (23 per cent of global GM area) or up substantially from 12.4 million hectares in 2002.

 

In 2003, the global market value of GM crops is estimated to be US$4.50 to US$4.75 billion, having increased from US$4.0 billion in 2002 when it represented 15 per cent of the US$31 billion global crop protection market and 13 per cent of the US$30 billion global commercial seed market.

 

The market value of the global transgenic crop market is based on the sale price of transgenic seed plus any technology fees that apply. The global value of the GM crop market is projected at US$5 billion or more, for 2005.