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Global GMO crop use increases

A total of 70 countries had adopted biotech crops through cultivation and importation by 2018.

Michael Stebbins with the GMO Answers campaign says there’s been a mostly steady increase over the past 20 years with GMO crop production worldwide, “In North America, South America, Asia, Africa, every continent is showing an increase, which just goes to show you the desire for the benefits that these crops provide.”

And he says there’s also been an increase, globally, of stacked traits, “The more things that a plant can do, the better for the farmer and then, ultimately, for the consumer.”

Stebbins says genetic modification has the highest adoption of any crop technology in the ag industry, “From hybrids to cross-breeding, those have all taken off and slowly grown over years. But, this biotechnology crop has dramatically increased over the course shorter periods of times than some of these previous technologies.”

The U.S., Canada, Argentina, Brazil and India have 91% of the global biotech crop area.