When the sixteen farmers representing agriculture around the globe gather in Des Moines next week for the Global Farmer Roundtable, they can celebrate a milestone. Since 1996 until now, over 4 billion acres of biotech crops will have been harvested.
That’s billion with a B.
Four billion acres is 1.5 times the size of Europe. It’s nearly as big as South America.
Ross Korves, economic and trade policy analyst with Truth About Trade and Technology: “The calculation starts with 1996 commercial production of biotech crops. Each February we benchmark back to the ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications) December 31 number of acres planted for the year. Much of the world does not have a harvested number like the U.S., but we’re making an educated guess to paint a simple picture. The counters (for planted acres and harvested acres) run 365 days per year. They come alive in the spring and fall and peak out at 25-30 million acres per week in the northern hemisphere and 15-20 million in the southern hemisphere.”
What’s the bottom line lesson here?
Bill Horan, chairman of Truth About Trade and Technology: “The B word for billion acres of biotech crops without any reported issues in the food chain means just one thing. There are a lot of voices out there critical of biotechnology, spinning their precautionary tales. Four billion acres of biotech crops have filled a lot of stomachs, and biotech is one of the answers for meeting agriculture’s goal to feed 9 billion people by the year 2050. I think it’s time we lay all of these scary food myths to rest, like the passing of the boogeyman, once Halloween is over. Once we’re able to do that, we could focus on the work ahead of us.”
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