Agricultural biotechnology: how big is it globally?

Transgenic crops were first grown commercially on a large scale in 1996 when 1.7 million hectares (Mha) were planted. During the intervening years, the area in transgenic crops grew to 67.7 Mha in 2003. This rate of adoption of a new technology is remarkable, but similar to rapid adoption of other breakthrough technologies of the past (James, 2003). While many different types of transgenic plants have been grown experimentally, relatively few have been grown commercially, and only soybean, maize, cotton and canola are grown on a large scale. The limited number of transgenic crops grown, and their concentration in just a few countries, is a reflection of the resistance shown by consumers in some parts of the world to this new technology (Alston, 2004). Each year since transgenic crops were first planted, it has been anticipated by some that the adoption of this technology will plateau and eventually decline because of consumer resistance and governmental barriers in some regions of the world. This does not seem to be happening and an analysis of recent trends suggests that widespread adoption will continue to expand beyond the United States. The United States remains the largest producer of transgenic crops, with more than half of the world-wide area in 2003. Rates of adoption of transgenic crops in some developing countries, however, have been rapid. Argentina was one of the early adopters of herbicide-tolerant soybean. In 1996–1997, 1% of the crop was genetically modified (GM), but by 2001–2002 more than 90% of the crop was transgenic. An even more-rapid adoption of transgenic maize has occurred in Argentina (Trigo and Cap, 2003). Approval for planting of transgenic soybean in Brazil was given in 2003, and it was conservatively estimated that more than 3 Mha would be planted in 2003–2004 (James, 2003). Agricultural Biotechnology: How Big is it Globally?