2009 GM Crop Fact File

ARE GM CROPS TAKING OVER GLOBAL AGRICULTURE? 

• GM plantings make up a mere 2.4% of global agricultural crop land
• Nearly 80% of the global area planted to GM crops was in just three countries - the US, Argentina and Brazil
• The US alone plants over 50% of the world's GM crops
• Less than 3% of cropland in India and China is planted with GM crops, almost exclusively just 1 crop - GM cotton

ARE GM CROPS EXPANDING IN EUROPE? 

• In the 27 countries of the European Union, GM crop cultivation represents a mere 0.21% of agricultural land
• The number of hectares of GM crops fell last year in Europe
• EuropaBio inflated the figures for GM crops grown in Europe by almost a quarter to mask the decline in the area of GM crops being grown has actually fallen in Europe every year since 2005.

WHAT GM CROPS ARE BEING GROWN? 

• Most investment has gone into a small number of crops and traits targeted toward large-scale commercial farming
• Only four crops - soya, maize, cotton and canola (oilseed rape) - comprise virtually 100% of GM agriculture
• GM rice, wheat, tomatoes, sweetcorn, potatoes and popcorn have all been rejected as unacceptable in the global marketplace
• GM papaya cultivation in Hawaii has been declining over several years.

DO GM CROPS MATCH THE HYPE? 

• None of the GM crops on the market are modified for increased yield potential
• Some studies show GM crops reduce yield
• Disease-tolerant GM crops are practically non-existent
• The GM industry has not marketed a single GM crop with enhanced nutrition, drought-tolerance, salt-tolerance or any of the other 'beneficial' traits long-promised by the industry
• There are no commercially available GM crops designed for biofuels

ARE GM CROPS REDUCING PESTICIDE USE? 

• Almost all GM crops involve just 2 traits, mainly just one trait - herbicide tolerance
• Herbicide tolerance is found in over 80% of all GM crops planted worldwide
• GM crops have contributed substantially to increased pesticide use
• Most new GM crop varieties are also pesticide-promoting
• GM crops have caused an epidemic of herbicide-resistant weeds
• This is encouraging the use of more toxic petsicides, including ones banned in some European countries

WHO BENEFITS FROM GM CROPS? 

• The real beneficiaries are the GM companies which profit from patents, expensive GM seeds, and increased pesticide sales
• Monsanto is the world's largest seed firm
• Monsanto holds a near monopoly in the biotech "traits" incorporated in GM seeds
• Monsanto is the world's fifth largest pesticide firm
• Monsanto markets Roundup, the world's biggest selling pesticide
• Monsanto controls roughly 60% of the market for glyphosate (the active ingredient of Roundup)
• Roundup is used in conjunction with Monsanto's 'Roundup Ready seeds'

WHO'S MILKING THE FOOD CRISIS? 

• The World Bank attributes 75% of global food price inflation to "biofuels"
• Monsanto has been at the heart of the "biofuels" lobby, particularly the lobby for corn ethanol
• The price of Monsanto's GM triple-stack corn will reportedly increase by around 35% in 2009 - by $95-100 per bag, to top $300 per bag
• The average price for soybean seed, the largest GM crop in the US, has risen by more than 50% in just two years from 2006 to 2008 - from $32.30 to $49.23 per planted acre
• Retail prices for Roundup herbicide  have increased from just $32 per gallon in December 2006 to $45 per gallon a year later, to $75 per gallon by June 2008 - a 134% price hike in less than two years

Almost all the facts in our fact file are taken from "Who Benefits from GM crops?: Feeding the biotech giants, not the world's poor", Friends of the Earth International (2009)