It's official. There have now been 1 billion acres of biotech-enhanced ag commodities planted around the world.
“U.S. farmers are adopting biotechnology because they recognize the safety, benefits and potential of biotechnology,” says Darrin Ihnen, a South Dakota farmer who serves as chairman of the National Corn Growers Association Biotechnology Working Group.
Biotechnology also results in less soil erosion, less fuel emissions and less herbicide carryover, which provides for healthier groundwater, rivers and streams.
Given the world's growing population, the United Nations Population Fund reports that farmers will have to produce about 75% more food per acre by 2020 to meet anticipated demand.
Globally, 6% of canola, 11% of cotton, 23% of corn and 60% of soybeans are grown from biotech-enhanced seedstock.
