For the first time since the introduction of biotech/ genetically modified (GM) crops almost two decades ago, developing countries have grown more hectares of them than industrialised countries, contributing to food security and further alleviating poverty in some of the world's most vulnerable regions.
Developing nations planted 52% of the global GM crops in 2012, up from 50% a year earlier, a report out yesterday by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).
Last year also marked an unprecedented 100-fold rise in the area planted, with GM crops now accounting for 170 million hectares up from 1.7 million in 1996, when GM crops were first commercialised.
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