London/Prague - There has been a massive rise in the production of genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe over the past 12 months, BBC News reported today.
The news report said figures published today (without specifying whose figures exactly) show the area planted with GM crops throughout the continent has grown by 77 per cent since last year.
The only GM crop grown widely in Europe is corn and the fact that it is resistant to the corn borer, a moth larva which eats the stem, is apparently one of the chief reasons of its increasing popularity with the local farmers. They only grow it for animal feed though, not for human consumption.
A big leap for Czechs
The Czech Republic is among the five countries where the GM corn is cultivated, the other four being France, Germany, Spain and Portugal.
According to the statistics released a month ago by the GMO-Compass website which monitors the situation with the financial help of the European Union, the land area in Europe where the genetically modified corn is planted grew from 62 thousand hectares in 2006 to nearly 110 thousand hectares this year.
Even though Spain remains the absolute leader as far as the total planted area is concerned, France recorded the biggest growth among the five, skyrocketing from 500 hectares in 2006 to no less than 20 thousand hectares.
Czech Republic also made quite a leap, increasing its GM-corn farming zone from 1,290 hectares last year to the 5 thousand hectares now. When the genetically modified plant began to be cultivated here two years ago, the area used for these purposes was only 270 hectares.
According to the Czech Statistical Bureau, the GM-corn harvest now represents more than five per cent of the total corn production in the Czech Republic.
There are now other GM crops being tested in the Czech Republic as well, namely potatoes, flax and plum-tree, but as Petr Habáň from the Ministry of Agriculture explained, none of these have been used commercially so far.
Concerns over potential risks
Despite recording the biggest growth in acreage set aside for GM crops over the last year, France has suspended all GM plantings for now.
Facing a wave of protests from various environmental groups, who are concerned about the potential risks, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that further decision on the future of GM crops in France will be taken only after the expert commissions give their assessment.
Spain remains an undisputed European GM champion with 75 thousand hectares of land set aside for genetically modified crops.
Globally though, Europe is still just a minor player, its one thousand square kilometers being a mere fraction of the one million square kilometers used for GM crops all over the world, an expanse thirteen times the size of the Czech Republic.
It is not only the environmental activists who fear the unknown with the GM crops cultivation, but also some governments. There have been decisions to ban or suspend further planting taken by Hungary, Germany, Poland, Austria, Greece and Switzerland.
