Cultivation & Benefits

Farmers around the world make commercial choices every season regarding the various tools that they will use to produce the best possible crops. Their choices depend on the seasons, the needs of their consumers and the given climatic and environmental conditions at the time of sowing and growing. Biotech crops are among those tools that farmers who work in countries without GM cultivation bans, can choose from.

More farmers are now planting genetically modified crops (GMOs) globally than all EU farmers put together, on a surface that is larger than the EU’s entire arable land. This reflects a conscious decision made by millions of farmers around the world each growing season to invest in seeds that provide them with clear returns on their investment, and help them contribute to environmental progress while sustaining consumer health and safety. 

ARCHIVE PRESS RELEASES

ABC welcomes ISAAA report into the use of biotech to help meet the challenges of a growing population and climate change

70 countries adopted biotech crops through cultivation and importation in 2018. Biotech crops can increase yields, improve resistance to pests, and reduce waste. ABC calls on the government to adopt science driven, proportionate regulation in agriculture to ensure UK farmers are able to benefit from these technologies.

A new report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) has found that a total of 70 countries adopted biotech crops in 2018, to help meet UN Sustainable Development Goals including hunger, malnutrition and climate change. [...]

PRESS RELEASES

Bt maize farming has enabled additional production of 1.89 million tons of maize between 1998 and 2018 in Spain and Portugal

FACTSHEETS/INFOGRAPHICS

Benefits of Bt maize farming in Spain and Portugal

REPORTS

The EU Protein Gap: trade policies and GMOs

The EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy is expected to define an ambitious strategy to promote protein crops whilst reducing dependence on external sources. This new EuropaBio brochure highlights how trade of imported GM crops will remain vital for ensuring a sustainable supply of protein. Bridging the ‘protein gap’ will require non-discrimination in trade and investment in research and innovation at home. Read More  

PRESS RELEASES

Consumers and small farmers increasingly benefit from biotech crop adoption, show two new studies

June  26,  2018. Today,  the  International  Service  for  the  Acquisition  of  Agri-biotech  Applications  (ISAAA)  and  PG Economics,  Ltd.  released  new  studies  highlighting  the  continued  social,  environmental  and  economic  benefits  of  the  global  adoption  of  biotechnology  in  agriculture.    [...]

REPORTS

Cultivating the Future: How can 20 years of GM debate inform UK farm policy?

Cultivating the Future is a series of essays authored by leading plant scientists, academics, trade bodies and politicians, celebrating numerous breakthroughs in plant technology and pioneering new approaches to food and farming since the first commercialisation of GM crops over 20 years ago.  [...]

VIDEOS

Prof. Luis Herrera-Estrella, National Laboratory for Genomics, Mexico

Opposition to technology is not based on real arguments, and those convening such misleading information should be aware of the consequences of their action.

VIDEOS

Drought Resistant Corn

With the use of biotechnology, corn can be modified to better withstand periods with less water by limiting effect of drought conditions on its yields.

REPORTS

Sustainable intensification of European agriculture 

The concept of sustainable intensification has come into prominence in the context of global food security. 

REPORTS

Sustainable intensification of European agriculture 

The concept of sustainable intensification has come into prominence in the context of global food security. 

VIDEOS

Princess Anne, United Kingdom

Princess Anne explains why she supports genetically modified crops - despite her brother Prince Charles being an outspoken opponent of them.

VIDEOS

Genetic Tinkering can be a Lifesaver

The London Free Press - The man widely credited with helping start the movement against genetically modified foods, only to become the planet's most vocal GM food proponent, says it may be the best hope for a world struggling to feed itself.

VIDEOS

''How an Environmentalist Changed his Mind about GM''

Transgenic crops are green: ''How an environmentalist changed his mind about biotechnology" was the sixth lecture of the International Seminar "Transgenic Crops: Reality and Controversy" held in Chile in 2014, by the Ministry of Agriculture.

VIDEOS

Chestnut Project Small Stem Assay Timelapse

Can #biotechnology save the mighty American Chestnut Tree from blight? First stages seem to show success!

VIDEOS

BBC Interview with Johnathan Napier

Johnathan Napier appeared on the Today (c. 53 mins) programme to discuss the new trials. He discussed the need and benefits of the technology, and highlighted that a dialogue between researchers and the public is key.

FACTSHEETS/INFOGRAPHICS

Biotech benefits

Biotech has increased crop production, lowered CO2 emmissions and improved farm incomes by $133 billion since the first varieties were planted in 1996.

VIDEOS

GMOrganic, a Botanical Love Story

It seems like their professions put them on opposing sides of agriculture, but UC Davis Professor Pamela Ronald and her husband, Organic Farmer Raoul Adamchak, share a vision: they believe genetic engineering is a tool to make farming more sustainable.

VIDEOS

God Made vs GMO Food

What's the difference between god-made food and man-made food? More than you think!

VIDEOS

Video: How is climate change affecting soil and yields in Ghana? 

B4FA Media Fellow Adelaide Arthur (Joy News, Ghana) finds that a new report states that Ghanaian maize farmers could lose over 40% of their crop yields due to climate change.

VIDEOS

More GM Crops Means more Nature Reserves

Owen Paterson has said that using GM will make use of farm land and “free up space for biodiversity, nature and wilderness”.

VIDEOS

Biotech Crop Countries 1996 - 2016

This video summarizes biotech’s success since its first commercialization in 1996 to 2016.

VIDEOS

Bt Maize and Bees

Does genetically modified Bt maize pose a risk to honeybees? Stephan Härtel and his team at the University of Würzburg investigated this possibility in a three-year research project. They did not find that Bt maize affected the bees' health in any of these experiments.

REPORTS

Making Sense of GM

Sense about Science: In the guide scientists and agriculturalists explain what is the genetic modification of plants and why scientists are doing it, putting GM into the context of developing plant breeding.