Adoption rates of the top five biotech crop-planting countries were close to
100% in 2018, according to the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM
Crops in 2018. The report was released by the International Service of
Acquisition on Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) on August 22, 2019 during a
seminar in Tokyo, Japan, attended by 90 stakeholders. The U.S., Brazil,
Argentina, Canada, and India, which have gained enormous benefits from
planting GM crops over the years, continue to adopt GM crops to meet the
challenges of increased population and climate change.



ISAAA reported that the U.S. was top GM crops producer worldwide with 75
million hectares of biotech crops planted in 2018. The average adoption rate
for the major GM crops (soybean, maize and canola) in the U.S. was 93.3%.
Brazil planted 51.3 million hectares of biotech crops, mostly soybeans,
maize, and cotton. These major biotech crops had an average adoption rate of
93%. Argentina planted a total of 23.6 million hectares of GM soybean,
maize, and cotton, with an average adoption rate of ~100%. Canadian farmers
grew 12.75 million hectares of biotech crops, wherein the major crops had an
average adoption rate of 92.5%. India, which planted biotech cotton on 11.6
million hectares, which was 95% of the total cotton plantings in the
country. The high adoption rates indicate that crop biotechnology meets the
needs of consumers and producers.

The seminar in Tokyo, Japan was organized in collaboration with Nippon
Biotechnology Information Center and Japan BioIndustry Association. The
report was also launched in Beijing, China during a press conference in
collaboration with CropLife Beijing office and a seminar organized by the
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

[www.isaaa.org]