Nairobi — The uptake of agricultural biotechnology outside Africa has been rapid, with over140 million acres of genetically modified crops currently under cultivation in 16 countries. Global trends indicate that since 1996, both the acreage under transgenic or genetically modified (GM) crops and the number of crops being genetically engineered are growing.
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) attributes rapid adoption of agribiotech to social and economic benefits of the crops to farming, especially to resource-poor farmers. GM crops have an edge over other crops because of their higher yields, less use of pesticides and herbicides, reduced time in fields, reduced production costs, insect and drought resistant varieties.
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