Global Biotech Crop Area Continues to Soar in 2005 After Decade of

Commercialization U.S. Farmers Plant 123 Million Acres of Biotech
Crops, Up 5 Percent From 2004

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmer demand has driven
annual double-digit increases in biotech crop adoption since the crops
were commercialized a decade ago. In 2005, four new countries and a
quarter million more farmers planted biotech crops as part of an 11
percent increase in global biotech crop area, according to a report
released today, authored by Dr. Clive James, chairman and founder of
ISAAA, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications.

Since initial commercialization in 1996, global planted area of
biotech crops has soared by more than fifty-fold from 4.2 million
acres in six countries to 222 million acres in 21 countries in 2005.
The 8.5 million farmers planting biotech crops in 2005 also marked a
significant milestone as the 1 billionth cumulative acre, or 400
millionth hectare, was planted.

Herbicide-tolerant soybeans continue to be the most widely adopted
trait, accounting for 60 percent of the total global area. Varieties
with stacked traits are growing in popularity, accounting for 10
percent of the global area. In 2005, 247 million "trait acres" were
planted, which better quantifies those acres planted to varieties with
multiple biotech enhancements.

"Farmers from the United States to Iran, and five EU countries
demonstrate a trust and confidence in biotech crops, as indicated by
the unprecedented high adoption rate of these crops," said Dr. James,
chairman and founder of ISAAA. "The continued expansion of countries
growing biotech crops also bears witness to the substantial
economical, environmental and social benefits associated with these
crops."

Notably, in 2005 Iran grew its first crop of biotech rice, the first
biotech planting of this important food crop globally. The Czech
Republic planted Bt maize for the first time, bringing the total
number of EU countries growing biotech crops to five with Spain,
Germany and the Czech Republic being joined by France and Portugal,
which resumed planting biotech maize after four and five year gaps,
respectively. This could signal an important trend in the EU.

Two-thirds or 14 of the 21 countries growing biotech crops achieved
"mega-country" status by planting 125,000 acres or more in 2005,
including the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China,
Paraguay, India, South Africa, Uruguay, Australia, Mexico, Romania,
the Philippines and Spain.

In the United States, farmers grew more biotech crops than any other
country -- 123 million acres or 55 percent of the world's biotech
area. That represents an increase of 5.4 million acres. Nearly 20
percent or 23.6 million acres are now planted with multiple or stacked
biotech traits. U.S. farmers also planted the first triple-stacked
variety in 2005 on about 1.24 million acres.

Brazil experienced the most significant growth, increasing its biotech
soybean area by 88 percent to reach a provisional 23 million acres in
2005. India displayed the largest proportional growth, nearly
three-fold, by planting 3.2 million acres of Bt cotton in 2005
compared to 1.24 million acres in 2004.

When biotech crops were first commercialized, critics suggested the
technology would never be valuable in the developing world. Now,
resource-poor farmers in developing countries account for 90 percent
of the 8.5 million growers who benefit from biotechnology, while
developing nations represent more than one-third of 2005 global
biotech area.

"Biotech crops have increased the income of 7.7 million resource-poor
farmers in China, India, South Africa, the Philippines and seven other
developing countries, helping alleviate them from abject poverty,"
James said. "The broader commercialization of biotech rice, the most
important food crop of the world's 1.3 billion poor and the 850
million hungry and malnourished, can further this effort. Biotech rice
could make a substantial contribution to the formidable U.N.
Millennium development goal of reducing poverty, hunger and
malnutrition by 50 percent by 2015."

James indicated the future looks promising for continued increases in
adoption levels in the next decade.

"I am cautiously optimistic the stellar growth experienced during the
first decade of commercialization will not only continue, but will be
surpassed in the second decade," he said. "The number of countries and
farmers growing biotech crops is expected to grow, particularly in
developing countries, while second-generation input and output traits
are expected to become available."

According to the report, other indicators of continued growth include
China's expected near-term adoption of biotech rice, more nutritional
biotech food and feed, products and the anticipated introduction of
novel crop products used as renewable resources for more sustainable
and affordable production of biofuels. ISAAA projects the global value
of the biotech crop market to increase from $5.25 billion in 2005 to
$5.5 billion in 2006.

The report's executive summary can be accessed at http://www.isaaa.org .

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications (ISAAA) is a not-for-profit organization with an
international network of centers designed to contribute to the
alleviation of hunger and poverty by sharing crop biotechnology
applications. Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA, has lived
and worked for the past 25 years in the developing countries of Asia,
Latin America and Africa, devoting his efforts to agricultural
research and development issues with a focus on crop biotechnology and
global food security. SOURCE International Service for the Acquisition
of Agri-biotech Applications