www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

An international agency foresees global value of biotechnology crops in the
world market to grow to 0.5 billion in 2006, indicating a more stellar
growth than the previous decade?s adoption even as their use expands from
pest-resistance to the more novel nutrient-fortification, January 2006.

"I am cautiously optimistic the stellar growth in the first decade of
commercialization will be surpassed in the second. The number of countries
and farmers growing biotech crops is expected to grow, particularly in
developing countries," said Clive James, chairman of the International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), in a press
briefing.

What is apparently drawing farmers to tap biotechnology crops is their
tremendous benefit of upgrading livelihood with higher farm yield, higher
income, and substantially-reduced use of inputs, mainly the expensive and
health-hazardous pesticides.

"A decade ago, critics suggested biotech crops would not be valuable in the
developing world. Now 90 percent of farmers who benefit are resource-poor
farmers in developing countries. These helped alleviate 7.7 million
subsistence farmers in China, India, South Africa, the Philippines from
abject poverty," said James.

In 2005, developing countries accounted for 38 percent of biotech crop area
world wide, and growth rate in biotechnology adoption in these countries
have been swifter, over four times that of industrial countries.

Biotechnology authorities picture the next 10 years to be highly prospective
for novel crops including nutritional genetically modified (GM) food and
feed and renewable resources such as biofuel. Research agencies are hopeful
Vitamin-A rich GM rice or multi-nutrient-rich rice (with Vitamin A, iron,
zinc) will come out in the market in the next five years.

A milestone in biotechnology in 2005 is Iran?s propagation of the first GM
rice. Since rice is the world?s most important food crop being a staple of
1.3 billion poor, GM rice will contribute to the UN?s Millennium development
goal of easing hunger and malnutrition by 50 percent in 2015.

China?s expected commercialization of Bt rice in the near term will also
usher in an important growth considering China?s huge market.

Advancement of GM crops worldwide has also been noted with the emergence of
multiple traits or stacked trait (GM corn?s herbicide tolerance and
borer-resistance). Stacked products in the US ate up 20 percent of total
acreage, and the three-trait crop was first introduced in the US last year.

In 2005, global biotechnology crop area reached 90 million hectares, up by
11 percent the previous year, involving 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries
with Brazil posting the fastest growth with its GM soybean.

Considered biotech "mega countries," those with at least 50,000 hectares,
are 14 out of 21 countries using GM technologies.

The first seven of these includes the US (49.8 million hectares of GM
soybean, corn, cotton, canola, squash, papaya), Argentina (17.1 million,
soybean, corn, cotton), Brazil (9.4 million, soybean), Canada (5.8 million,
canola, corn, soybean), China (3.3 million, cotton), Paraguay (1.8 million,
soybean), and India (1.3 million, cotton).

The rest are South Africa (500,000, corn, soybean, cotton), Uruguay
(300,000, soybean, corn), Australia (300,000, cotton), Mexico (100,000,
cotton, soybean), Romania (100,000, soybean), the Philippines (Bt corn,
70,000, and Spain (100,000, corn).

Herbicide-tolerant soybeans remained the most widely-adopted trait followed
by insect-resistant corn.

Countries which just started planting biotechnology crops in 2005 include
three European countries?Czech Republic (Bt corn) which is planting for the
first time while France (corn), and Portugal) resumed planting the GM
products.

Other biotechnology planting countries are Colombia, (cotton), Honduras
(corn), Portugal (corn), Spain (corn), Germany (corn), and Iran (rice).

For 2006, Brazil looks forward to its national agricultural system?s
development of virus-resistant biotech beans and papaya that can deliver
significant benefits to resource-poor farmers.

www.checkbiotech.org

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