India tops in GM acreage growth

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New Delhi, Jan 12: Estimated area, in India, under Bt cotton cultivation has increased to 1.3 million hectare in 2005 as against 500,000 hectare in 2004, according to the annual review report of the US-based International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA). This marks an increase of 160%, highest among 21 countries growing genetically modified (GM) crops.

India has so far approved only one GM crop ie Bt cotton for commercial cultivation.

India’s coverage under Bt cotton in 2005 is a miniscule part of the global area under GM crops, which is estimated at 90 million hectare. Countries like US, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China and Paraguay have higher area coverage under GM crops. In US the area coverage is estimated at 49.8 million hectare, in Argentina it is 17.1 million hectare, in Brazil 9.4 million hectare, in Canada 5.8 million hectare and in Paraguay it is 1.8 million hectare.

Despite the low area coverage, India is considered among the 14 ‘mega biotech countries’. Out of the 14 ‘mega biotech countries’, South Africa, Uruguay, Australia, Mexico, Romania, Phillipines and Spain have lesser area coverage under GM crops. Colombia, Iran, Honduras, Portugal, Germany, France, and Czech Republic which have less than 0.1 million hectare coverage are not designated as mega biotech countries.

In his recorded speech played before the media, the ISAAA chair Clive James said that France and Portugal resumed cultivation of Bt maize and Czech Republic has approved Bt maize for the first time.