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Question

If the US only grows eight GMO crops, how many GMO crops are grown around the world? Do you have a list?

Submitted by: David Chenelle


Answer

Expert response from Community Manager

Tuesday, 25/11/2014 11:24

A great resource for information on biotech crops is found at International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), which includes a list of all GM crops planted, as well as the countries with approved GM crop products. It is important to note that not every GM product that has been approved by regulators for cultivation is commercially produced. Even in the United States, there are a number of examples of this situation. In the United States, as mentioned above, eight GM crops are grown: corn (sweet and field), soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet, alfalfa, papaya and squash. Some of the other GM crops and other nonfood plants that are grown in various countries around the world include:

 

  • Eggplant (brinjal)
  • Rice
  • Sweet pepper
  • Tomato
  • Common bean 
  • Poplar
  • Carnations
  • Roses

However, as developing countries continue to adopt and benefit from this technology, a growing desire for other crops emerges. Additional crops that are undergoing development or are under regulatory review within a given country/countries include: apple, eucalyptus, sugarcane, wheat, banana, cassava, cowpea, potato, sorghum, sweet potato and tomato. For further reading, I recommend reading the ISAAA Brief 46-2013 Top Ten Facts that will afford a look into how GM crops have managed success, growth, safety and benefits to farmers and consumers for over 18 years, particularly within developing countries.

Answer

Expert response from Nick Gosman, Ph.D.

Senior Program Leader in the Crop Efficiency Group in Trait Research at Bayer Crop Science

Tuesday, 25/11/2014 11:20

Of the commercial broad-acre crops, the United States leads the world in the production of food using GM technology growing significant acreages of corn, oilseed rape, cotton and soybean. The major GM traits for these crops are herbicide tolerance for corn, oilseeds and soybean, and insect resistance in cotton. Some GM (pathogen-resistant) papaya is grown in Hawaii. These crops make up the bulk of the 169 m acres (68.4 m ha) planted with GM crops in the United States. This represents 39 percent of global area planted with GM crops, 84.4 percent of the GM area in industrialized countries and half of the cultivatable land in the United States.

 

Herbicide-tolerant soybean comprises 93 percent of all planted soybean, and herbicide-tolerant corn accounts for 85 percent of corn acreage, while herbicide-tolerant cotton is 82 percent of all cotton. Insect-resistant (Bt) cotton comprises 75 percent of cotton, and Bt corn 76 percent of all corn. 

 

Around the word, in addition to the crops grown in the US, major GM crops in production but not commercially released include sugar beet, potato, tomato, squash (courgette), rice and alfalfa. As yet, there is no GM wheat being produced.