By Jeremy Smith
BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Farmers in seven European Union
nations planted genetically modified crops commercially last
year, one fewer than in 2007 after France banned cultivation of
GM maize, an industry-sponsored report said on Wednesday.
In terms of area, the land sown to biotech crops across the
EU's 27-country territory reached 107,719 hectares in 2008,
according to a report issued by the International Service for
the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).
The European Union's overall cereals area is around 60
million hectares, figures from farm and grain unions show.
So far, only one GM crop may be grown in the EU: an
insect-resistant maize type, MON 810, developed by U.S. biotech
company Monsanto <MON.N>.
Known as Bt maize because of its resistance to the European
corn borer, it first gained EU approval in 1998.
For 2007, ISAAA said the EU's GM sowings for the seven
nations concerned covered 88,673 hectares. But that does not
include France, which also planted MON 810 maize in 2007 --
until Paris issued a decree to ban MON 810 planting for 2008.
[]
ISAAA omitted to incorporate a figure for French GM maize
plantings for 2007 in its report but, according to Monsanto's
French website, more than 21,000 hectares of land were sown to
MON 810 maize in France in that year.
Spain again led EU countries in GM crop plantings, with by
far the largest amount of land sown to GM in 2008, ISAAA said.
"Spain is the lead biotech crop country in Europe, having
successfully grown Bt maize for 11 years," it said, adding that
Spanish farmers grew some 79,300 hectares of Bt maize in 2008.
In second place, albeit way behind, came the Czech Republic
with 8,380 hectares and then Romania with 7,146 hectares, it
said. Both countries saw significant percentage rises from 2007.
ISAAA said global GM crop sowings last year rose by 9.4
percent from 2007 to 125.0 million hectares. The United States
has by far the largest GM area, trailed by Argentina and Brazil.
In Europe, however, attitudes towards GMO foods and crops
differ substantially from those in the United States and other
major country suppliers of biotech crops. []
European consumers are well known for their scepticism, if
not hostility, to GM crops, often called "Frankenstein foods."
The biotech industry says its products are as safe as
conventional equivalents. After hefty investments and years of
research, it is frustrated over what it sees as the EU's delay
in approving GM products to deny it access to European markets.
While the EU has issued a string of authorisations since
2004 for imports of GM products grown outside Europe, for use in
food or feed, there have been no new cultivation approvals since
1998. Several GM crops have been awaiting a decision for years.
EUROPEAN UNION GM CROP SOWINGS BY AREA IN 2007, 2008
(in hectares)
2008 2007
Czech Republic 8,380 5,000
Germany 3,173 2,685
Poland 3,000 327
Portugal 4,851 4,263
Romania 7,146 350
Slovakia 1,900 900
Spain 79,269 75,148
(Reporting by Jeremy Smith; editing by Guy Dresser)
