Biotech crops' global value exceeds $11 billion last year

MANILA, Philippines - The global market value of biotechnology or genetically modified (GM) crops exceeded the $11 billion mark in 2010, up from $10.6 billion in 2009.

The $11.2 billion represented 22 percent of the $51.8 billion global crop protection market and 35 percent of the about $34 billion commercial seed market last year.

The value of the biotech crop market for 2011 is projected at more than $12 billion.

The accumulated global value for the 15-year period since biotech crops were first commercialized in 1996 is estimated at $73.5 billion, reported the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA).

New York-based ISAAA is a non-profit organization with an international network of centers designed to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and poverty by sharing knowledge and crop biotechnology applications. The network includes its Southeast Asian center based in Los Baños, Laguna.

Dr. Clive James, ISAAA founder and current board chairman, reported the significant strides of biotechnology or GM crops at a seminar billed “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2010” held last March 11 at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel in Makati City.

The seminar was supported by the Philippine government-hosted, Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA) and the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

SEARCA, headed by Director Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., is one of the 20 “centers of excellence” of SEAMEO, an intergovernment treaty organization founded in 1965 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in the fields of education, science, and culture.

NAST, headed by former University of the Philippines System president Dr. Emil Q. Javier, is the country’s highest science and technology advisory and recognition body.

Attended by scientists, academics, members of the business and biotechnology sector, and journalists, the seminar marked ISAAA’s 20th anniversary.

The $11.2-billion biotech crop market in 2010 comprised $5.4 billion for biotech maize (equivalent to 48 percent of the global biotech crop market), $4.3 billion for biotech soybean (38 percent), $1.2 billion for biotech cotton (11 percent), and $0.3 billion for canola (three percent).

Of last year’s biotech crop market, $8.9 billion (80 percent) was in the industrial countries and $2.3 billion in developing countries.

“The market value of the global crop market is based on the sale price of biotech seed plus any technology fees that apply,” the ISAAA report stated.