Worldwide Commercial Growing
GM Crops were first grown on a large scale in 1996 when US farmers started to grow Monsanto's Roundup Ready soya. Each year the ISAAA produces a briefing giving details of the commercial growing of GM crops globally - these figures are used extensively by media and industry. A table produced from these figures can be found at the bottom of this page. Criticisms have been made about these reports because;
- Many figures for the the areas of a GM crop grown are reliant on personal communication or the source is simply not referenced.
- ISAAA explicitly supports the commercial growing of GM crops and statistics are used only to highlight the uptake of GM crops by farmers and countries.
- Relatively few countries grow GM crops, with over 85% of the global area being in the USA, Argentina, Brazil and Canada.
- Greenpeace International (18 January 2007) The Global Status of Genetically Engineered (GE) Crops - 10 years of continuing rejection
- GM Freeze and Friends of the Earth Europe (11 February 2009) Undoing the ISAAA Myths on GM Crops
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Bt = insect resistant using a toxin from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis
- Ht = tolerant to at least one of the following herbicides. Glyphosate (Roundup) or Glufosinate ammonium (Liberty).
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Ht-Bt = crops with stacked traits of both Bt insect resistance and herbicide tolerance.
- VR = virus resistant.
Environmental organisations have criticised these figures in recent years.
Media reports and science journals include many stories of new crops that can been produced using genetic modification. However, the range of traits available commercially remains relatively small and dominated by herbicide tolerance and insect resistance traits.
Table 1: Area of Commercial GM Crops by Country (2010)
Key:
| Country | Cultivation area (Hectares) | Crops and traits |
| USA | 66.8 million | Bt Maize, HTmaize & Bt-HT maize HT Soya Bt Cotton, Ht Cotton & Bt-Ht Cotton Bt Canola VR Papaya |
| Brazil | 25.4 million | Ht Soya Bt Cotton Bt Maize |
| Argentina | 22.9 million | Ht Soybean Bt Maize, Ht Maize & Bt-Ht Maize Bt Cotton & Ht Cotton |
| India | 9.4 million | Bt Cotton |
| Canada | 8.8 million | Ht Canola Ht Soybeans Ht Maize, Bt Maize & Ht-Bt Maize Ht Sugar beet. |
| China | 3.5 million | Bt Cotton VR Papaya |
| Paraguay | 2.6 million | HT Soybean |
| Pakistan | 2.4 million | Bt Cotton |
| South Africa | 2.2 million | HT Cotton, Bt Cotton & Ht-Bt Cotton Ht Maize, Bt Maize & Ht-Bt maize Ht Soybean |
| Uruguay | 1.1 million | Ht Soybean Bt maize |
| Bolivia | 0.9 million | Ht Soybean |
| Australia | 0.7 million | Bt Cotton, Bt-Ht Cotton Ht Canola & Hybrid system-Ht Canola Altered colour carnation |
| Philippines | 0.5 million | Bt Maize, Ht Maize & Bt-Ht Maize |
| Mynamar | 0.3 | Bt Cotton |
| Burkina Faso | 0.3 | Bt Cotton |
| Mexico | 0.1 | Bt Cotton Ht Soybean |
| Spain | 0.1 | Bt Maize |
| Columbia | <0.1 | Bt Cotton, Ht Cotton & Bt-Ht Cotton |
| Honduras | <0.1 | Ht Maize & Bt-Ht Maize |
| Portugal | <0.1 | Bt Maize |
| Czech Republic | <0.1 | Bt maize |
| Poland | <0.1 | Bt Maize |
| Egypt | <0.1 | Bt Maize |
| Slovakia | <0.1 | Bt Maize |
| Costa Rica | <0.1 | Bt Cotton, HT Soybean |
| Romania | <0.1 | Bt Maize |
| Sweden | <0.1 | Amflora potato |
| Germany | <0.1 | Amflora potato |