GM Crops Seen as $210 Billion Market in 10 Years

Land devoted to the growth of biotech crops grew some 20 percent in 2004, up 5 percent over the previous year according to a report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, a lobby group based at Cornell University.

Biotech crops were grown by approximately 8.25 million farmers in 17 countries in 2004, up from 7 million farmers in 18 countries in 2003, according to the group's report. The US was followed by Argentina, Canada, Brazil, China, Paraguay, India, South Africa, Uruguay, Australia, Romania, Mexico, Spain and the Philippines among the countries growing 50,000 hectares or more of these crops.

Elsewhere, a widely published report attributed to an Australian study predicts that the global production of biotech crops -- including grains, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables -- will reach some $210 billion by 2015.

Certainly the developing world, seeking to feed an expanding population of poor, will provide the most pressure to use GM crops as China, the world's biggest producer of rice, the globe'smost important food crop, will no doubt soon release the first GM rice cultivars, pest-resistant rice varieties.

This news comes as Swiss voters earlier this week approved a five year-ban on the farming of genetically modified crops in the country, reflecting Europe's mistrust of this technology and a deep divide between it and the US over this issue.

Meantime, back in the US, the Environmental Protection Agency, found that Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a DuPont subsidiary, and Mycogen Seeds, a unit of Dow AgroSciences, had violated Federal laws in plantings of experimental genetically engineered crops in Hawaii, according to a news report. In both cases, the plantings of experimental corn did not meet regulations for isolating the plants from accidentally breeding with neighboring non-modified corn.