* South Africa GM crop at record
* Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria have held trials
(Adds more details)
PRETORIA, March 8 (Reuters) – South Africa’s
genetically modified (GM) crop area increased 100,000 hectares
to a record 2.3 million hectares in 2011 from 2.2 million
hectares in the year before, an industry report showed on
Thursday.
The land area cultivated under the staple maize was 1.9
million hectares, while genetically modified soya beans were
produced on 450,000 ha and cotton on 15,000 ha, the report
issued by the International Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) showed.
Such data is keenly monitored by maize traders but also by
food retailers as non-GMO maize can fetch a premium in the
supermarket because of public suspicions about the safety of
bio-tech crops.
South Africa’s total GM crop area ranked 9th in the world,
the report said and was just a fraction of the 69 million ha the
report said had been planted in the United States.
The report said the west African nation of Burkina Faso, the
only other African country to have embraced the technology on a
significant commercial basis, had planted about 300,000 ha of
cotton in 2011.
Egypt has a small GM maize crop while Kenya, Nigeria and
Uganda have all conducted field trials and Malawi has approved
experimental planting.
Africa is under pressure to grow more food as its population
increases. Although GM crops might help boost output, some
African countries have banned GM, fearing it could be harmful to
humans and animals, hamper exports and hurt small farmers.
“Trials focusing on Africa’s pro-poor priority staple crops
including maize, cassava, banana and sweetpotato are making good
progress,” the report said.
It said trials for drought-tolerant maize were undergoing
second season trials in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. Drought
in major concern on the world’s poorest continent where many
farmers are peasants who rely on rain.
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by David Dolan)
