GM crops increasing

A report released yesterday revealed that the global use of GM crops increased last year by 12%, reaching 114million hectares over 23 countries.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) claimed that approximately 11 million of the 12 million farmers currently growing biotech crops are resource-poor.

Clive James, who wrote the report, spoke of the fact that GM crops would be increasingly significant in reducing hunger and poverty by 2015. However Friends of the Earth counteracts this view with its belief that biotech farming isn’t delivering on the benefits.

The report asserted that growing GM plants including cotton and maize aids small farmers, providing such social benefits as higher school enrolment and financial gains.

The ISAAA said that GM plants produce higher yields and incomes, combined with a lower pesticide use.

Clare Oxborrow, Friends of the Earth’s GM campaigner, discredited the report stating that it was a promotional tool for the GM industry, funded by people from the industry to promote GM crops.

She spoke of a massive increase in pesticide use as a result of GM crops, in conjunction with a failure to tackle hunger and poverty in addition to a failure to increase yields.

According to the Agricultural Biotechnology Council there has been a 70-fold increase in GM crops over the past ten years with farmers deciding to make the switch to GM due to the better yields, lower pesticide use and environmental benefits.

Dr Julian Little, chairman of the council, held the opinion that GM crops have the possibility to reduce greenhouse emissions and lessen agriculture’s environmental footprint.

Worldwide 11 industrialized countries and 12 developing states are currently growing GM crops.
Chinese and Indian cotton farmers grow the bulk of biotech crops, with smaller numbers in the Philippines and South Africa growing crops including cotton, soybeans and maize.

Clive James spoke of the farmers that had taken on biotech crops several years ago as already seeing socioeconomic advantages when compared to their non-GM peers.

He then elaborated to say that if the Millennium Goals to halve hunger and poverty by 2015 are to be fulfilled, biotech crops should take a bigger role in the next ten years- with an expansion of biotech cop use to meet fuel, food, fibre and feed requirements in the future.

Research has shown that biotech crops have yielded gains of $34billion in the initial 11 years.

According to the report, biotech crops have resulted in CO2 savings of 14.9 million tonnes in 2007. Similarly the report outlines cuts in pesticide use and decreased fossil fuel use as a result of reduced tillage and spraying.

Yet Friend’s of the Earth has pointed out that a great deal of the GM crops grown are used for biofuels or animal feed as opposed to helping tackle poverty and hunger in developing countries.