According to a report issued by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a biotechnology network, the use of biotech crops has experienced double digit growth worldwide every year for the past few years.

"With increasing food prices globally, the benefits of biotech crops have never been more important," said Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA and the report's author.

The report claims that biotechnology increase global crop productivity, alleviates poverty, reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture by requiring less pesticide use, and contributing to the cost-effective production of biofuels.

However, Friends of the Earth released conflicting facts before the ISAAA report was issued, saying the adoption of GM crops has actually led to a significant increase in pesticide use, including more toxic pesticides.

Friends of the Earth International's GMO coordinator in Nigeria, Nnimmo Bassey said: "GM crops have failed to deliver the long-promised benefits of the biotech industry. Instead, increased pesticide use caused by these crops threatens the environment and communities around the world."

The environmental campaigners also said the growing use of biotech applications has not increased yields nor will they help combat hunger. Moreover, the organization said GMOs are being rejected in Europe, and their popularity is not increasing.

Pesticide use

The use of pesticides goes against the growing trend and demand for natural, organic and environmentally-friendly products.

There are fears that traces can collect in streams and be passed spread through the environment, as well as contributing to carbon emissions. Consumers are also concerned about possible health risks as a result of consuming chemicals residue traces on the plants themselves.

The ISAAA report said biotech crops have already cut pesticide use, decreased carbon dioxide emissions and saved fossil fuel use due to less spraying and tillage.

It said, in 2007, biotech crops saved 14.8bn kg of carbon dioxide, equivalent to removing 6.5m cars from the road.

In the next decade, it predicts that crops with increased drought tolerance will help limit water use and greater nitrogen efficiency will help improve use of this nutrient.

Additionally, it said biotech crops contribute to reduced carbon dioxide emissions as they can developed faster for quick reforestation and to meet more rapid changes in climate are in development.

However, Friends of the Earth International's report Who benefits from GM crops? suggests that there has actually been a 15-fold increase in the use the herbicide RoundUp (glyphosate) in the United States, and an almost 80 percent increase in Brazil.

It said this is resulting in increasing numbers of glyphosate-resistant weeds around the world, leading to higher production costs for farmers as well as concerns about the environmental impact.

From 2002 to 2006 the use of 2,4,D (a component of agent orange) on soybeans more than doubled, its said. Furthermore, the US reportedly found increasing use of more toxic pesticides, including atrazine, which is banned in Europe.

Productivity

The ISAAA found that in the first 11 years of biotech crops, yield gains in the key commodities were valued at $34 billion.

It predicts production increases will continue with the introduction of the drought-tolerant crops in the next decade, as well as more nutritious crops like soybeans enhanced with omega-3 oils and rice with enriched vitamin A content.

This in turn should help alleviate world hunger, as 50 percent of the world's poorest are small farmers and another 20 percent of the rural landless are dependent on agriculture.

James said: "Already those farmers who began adopting biotech crops a few years ago are beginning to see socio-economic advantages compared to their peers who haven't adopted the crops. If we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of cutting hunger and poverty in half by 2015, biotech crops must play an even bigger role in the next decade."

Again, Friends of the Earth disagreed. It said that the majority of GM crops currently commercialized are destined for animal feed in industrialized nations rather than for feeding the poor. GM crops, as part of the intensive farming model, contribute to small farmers losing their land and livelihoods and do not alleviate poverty.

Moreover, it said GM crops do not yield more than other crops. It attributed the US Department of Agriculture as saying there is no GM crop on the market that has been modified to increase yields. It considers the main factors influencing crop yield to be weather, irrigation and fertilizers, soil quality and farmers' management skills.

Bassey said: "The biotech industry tells Africans that we need GM crops to tackle the food needs of our population. But the majority of GM crops are used to feed animals in rich countries, to produce damaging agrofuels, and don't even yield more than conventional crops."

Global use of biotech

After a dozen years of commercialization, biotech crops are experiencing yearly double-digit growth and new countries have entered the arena, according to the ISAAA report.

Further, 2m more farmers planted biotech crops last year to total 12m farmers worldwide. It claimed that 11m of the farmers are resource-poor farmers.

However, Friends of the Earth claimed that GM crops are failing in Europe, with less than 2 percent of the total maize grown in the EU being genetically modified. Furthermore, it pointed out that five EU countries have now banned Monsanto's maize because of growing evidence of its negative environmental impact.

It added that a review of biotechnology in the European Union in 2007 suggested the GM crop sector is not performing well.