The area of genetically-modified maize fields in the Czech Republic exceeded
8,000 hectares this year, a growth of more than 3,000 hectares against 2007,
Agriculture Ministry said in a press release Thursday.
The number of GM maize growers rose by 40 year-on-year to 171. The main
reason for Czech farmers' interest in the plant are lasting problems with
the European Corn Borer pest to which GM maize is resistant.

Most GM maize is grown in the Jihomoravsky region in southern Moravia (more
than 2,000 hectares), followed by the Stredocesky region in central Bohemia
(more than 1,600 hectares, including Prague) and Plzensky region in western
Bohemia (more than 900 hectares).

Czech farmers launched trial growing of GM maize in 2005 on 270 hectares of
land.

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