(Reuters) — The world scaled back biotech crop planting for the first time ever in 2015, led by a decline in the United States, which has fueled rapid expansion of genetically modified crops since their commercial launch two decades ago, according to an annual report released today.
The decline was blamed largely on lower crop plantings overall due to lower commodity prices, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), the group that released the report, said.
Planting area was unchanged or lower in eight of the top 10 biotech crop-producing countries, including a 5.4 million acre drop in the United States, the world’s largest grower, according to data from the ISAAA, which promotes the use of biotechnology in agriculture.
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Biotech crops are genetically modified to resist pests or disease, tolerate drought or withstand sprayings of chemical weed killers such as glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto Co.’s popular Roundup weed killer.
Brazil and Argentina, South America’s largest crop producers, were the only two nations in the top 10 that measurably expanded biotech seedings, adding 4.9 million and 500,000 acres, respectively, according to ISAAA data.
Globally, biotech crops, including corn, cotton, soybeans, canola and other crops, were sown on 444 million acres in 28 countries in 2015, down from 449 million acres the previous year, according to the group.
In China, biotech crops were planted on 9.1 million acres, down 500,000 from 2014, nearly all of it biotech cotton. Despite the country’s rising demand for grain and oilseeds, cultivation of biotech corn and soybeans is not allowed in China.
The February agreement by state-owned ChemChina to buy Swiss seeds and agrochemicals company Syngenta AG for $43 billion has fueled speculation the biotech grain cultivation ban could soon be reversed.
There has been increasing pressure from some consumers and environmental groups who argue that biotech crops lead to increased pesticide use and pose threats to the environment and human health.
EU countries are discussing whether to extend the EU-wide license for glyphosate after the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it as a probable human carcinogen last March.
Some U.S. states have passed laws requiring food labels to disclose GM ingredients. Industry-backed efforts to block the regulations failed in the Senate last month.
