GM crop area reaches a record 190 million ha in 2017: ISAAA

TOKYO, June 27 — Total area cultivated with genetically modified (GM) crops rose 3% to a record in 2017 from a year earlier, as farmers in developing countries seeked to boost output, a study has showed.

The area planted with GM crops totaled 189.8 million hectares in 24 countries last year, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).

The ISAAA is a non-profit group that promotes the use of biotech crops.

According to the ISAAA figure, 19 developing countries, including Brazil, India and Pakistan, accounted for 53 percent of the world’s GM area.

Biotech soybeans accounted for 50 percent of the global GM crop area.

The countries that cultivated more than 90 percent of biotech soybean were:  the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, South Africa, Bolivia and Uruguay.

Among biotech varieties, 77 percent of soybean, 80 percent of cotton, 32 percent of maize and 30 percent of canola were planted worldwide in 2017, the data showed.

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