BIOTECH CROPS are considered as the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture, according to ISAAA Pocket K 16: Biotech Crop Highlights in 2018. From the initial planting of 1.7 million hectares in 1996 when the first biotech crop was commercialized, the 191.7 million hectares planted in 2018 indicates a ~113-fold increase.
Of the 26 countries that planted biotech crops in 2018, 18 countries were considered at least 50,000 hectares. USA remained as the top producer of biotech crops globally, which planted 75 million hectares in 2018, covering 39% of the global biotech crop plantings.
Brazil landed on the second spot, with 51.3 million hectares or 27% of the global output. Pocket K 16 is based on the ISAAA report Global Status of Commercialized GM/Biotech Crops: 2018. Pocket Ks are Pockets of Knowledge, packaged information about crop biotechnology products and related issues.
It is developed by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology to deliver key agri-biotech information in easy-to-understand style and downloadable as PDF for easy sharing and distribution.
