Australia: End of GM ban 'a great step forward' for New South Wales farmers and biotech companies

Published 2021년 7월 12일

Tridge summary

New South Wales, Australia, has recently lifted a ban on genetically modified (GM) food crops, marking a significant milestone for the agricultural sector. This development follows a global trend where the cultivation of GM crops is on the rise, with 200 million hectares planted in 2019 across 29 countries. The United States emerges as a leader, with GM crops making up a large portion of its corn, soybean, and cotton production. In Australia, despite only three GM crops being permitted due to strict regulations, the removal of the ban is anticipated to bring about substantial benefits, including a 35% reduction in costs due to less land, water, and pesticide usage. The lift on the ban is expected to boost the development of new biotechnology and encourage investment in research and development. However, the article also highlights the challenges faced by GM crops in markets, such as Europe, that maintain a cautious stance towards genetically modified food.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

By David Claughton, Lara Webster, and Hugh Hogan Biotech lobby group CropLife is hailing the lifting of a ban on genetically modified (GM) food crops in New South Wales as a "great step forward", but after 18 years in limbo the state's agricultural sector has some catching up to do. Around the world, the growth in GM crops is beginning to accelerate. Almost 200 million hectares of GM crops were planted in 2019 in 29 countries, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a non profit group working to share biotechnology with developing countries. "Biotech crops are considered the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture," it said in a 2019 report. Most of the corn, soybean, and cotton in the United States is GM and leads the world in the area sown to GM crops, followed by Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and India. Ninety five per cent of the livestock in the US are eating GM feed and US consumers are ...

Source: Agropages