According to this report, the country’s average biotech crop adoption rose from 93% in 2017 to 96% in 2018, sustaining its ranking among the top ten biotech crop countries over the last two decades.
The Hans Lombard memorial information session on the status of GM and biotech crops in South Africa, is an annual press conference organised by the Agricultural Biotech Industry (ABI) Forum. Through this conference, the South African seed industry aims to inform and educate the public about the benefits of biotechnology, allay fears and introduce new technology.
Dr Margaret Karembu, director of ISAAA AfriCenter, presented the global biotech figures while Rodney Bell, CEO CropLife SA, informed the audience of the status in South Africa.
Biotech crops in South Africa
Brief 54 shows that South Africa has completed 21 years of successful commercialisation of biotech crops with a total of 2,74 million hectares planted to three principal biotech crops: cotton, maize, and soya beans. Most farmers in South Africa have adopted biotech crops with adoption percentages of 87% for biotech maize, 95% for biotech soya beans and 100% for biotech cotton, says the report.
It further shows that the area planted to biotech cotton increased to 42 654ha in 2018 from 37 406ha in 2017, representing a 14% increase. However, the combined area planted to maize, soya beans and cotton was 3,073 million hectares, a slight decrease from the 2017/18 planting of 3,1 million hectares. The decline was a result of maize and soya bean plantings.
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Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av FarmBiz.
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