Pretoria, South Africa
April 13, 2006
by
Wynand J. van der Walt,
Senior Partner, FoodNCropBio consulting and facilitation
services
GM maize doubles market share in 2006
Planting of genetically modified (GM) maize
increased its market share from 14.6 per cent of total South
African maize planted in 2005 to 29.4 per cent in 2006,
according to a survey submitted by FoodNCropBio to the Maize
Trust this week. The major unique trait remains insect
resistance with 72 per cent of total GM maize, while herbicide
tolerant maize now stands at 28 per cent. Actual hectares
planted increased by 11 per cent to 455 287 despite total maize
area having slumped by 45 per cent.
This increase builds upon past trends that
amounted to 42 per cent GM maize growth in 2003, 44 per cent in
2004 and 20 per cent in 2005. White GM maize showed the most
dramatic increase from 8.6 per cent of total white maize area in
2005 to 28.8 per cent in 2006. Yellow GM area planted grew from
24 per cent to 30.5 per cent of total yellow for the same
period.
It is clear that farmers gain benefit from GM
technology. Nevertheless, co-existence of GM and conventional
maize farming has been accepted. Some farmers grow conventional
maize under contract with buyers who serve non-GM markets, while
various agri-businesses retain separate storage facilities for
non-GM grain. Standards for identity preservation have been
finalized so that certification of non-GM will be possible.
GM share of soybean crop stabilizes
Herbicide tolerance in GM soybeans has been the
global driving factor in conservation farming by reducing
ploughing and tilling practices. The share of GM soybean area
planted was estimated at 135 000 hectares or 59 per cent of
total soybeans, about the same as for the 2005 crop. Use of
farm-saved seed continues to increase and may create problems
for future non-GM production due to risk of seed mixing.
GM cotton still at 90 per cent
The anticipated increase in cotton area did not
materialize due to low local cotton prices, aggravated by
drought at planting time. The share of GM cotton remains at 90
to 92 per cent of the total. The stacked traits of insect
resistance and herbicide tolerance, only approved for commercial
release by government in September 2005, realized a 40 per cent
market share in its first year. Varieties with only insect
resistance had a 39 per cent share and those with only herbicide
tolerance stood at 13 per cent share. The remaining 8 per cent
was planted to conventional cotton.
Total area planted to the three GM crops came to
over 609 000 ha, up 18 per cent from the 2005 area
of 515 000 ha.
The survey on GM maize conducted by FoodNCropBio
was supported by a grant from the South African Maize Trust.
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