What GM crops are being grown and where? (2024)

FAQs

What GM crops are being grown and where? ›

Herbicide-tolerant GM crops have been widely adopted in the U.S., such that >90% of corn, soybeans, and cotton are GM and herbicide-tolerant²⁸ and as other countries adopt GM technologies, the amount of acreage planted with herbicide-tolerant GM crops will continue to grow. In Canada 98% of the canola crop is GM.

The GM crops grown commercially included: potato (USA), squash/pumpkin (USA) alfalfa (USA), aubergine (Bangladesh), sugar beet (USA, Canada), papaya (USA and China), oilseed rape (4 countries), maize (corn) (17 countries), soya beans (11 countries) and cotton (15 countries).

Only a few types of GMO crops are grown in the United States, but some of these GMOs make up a large percentage of the crop grown (e.g., soybeans, corn, sugar beets, canola, and cotton).

The most common GMO crops include soybean, maize, cotton, canola, and alfalfa. The following GMO crops were also planted in different countries in 2018: papaya, eggplant, potato, apple, safflower, pineapple, and sugarcane.

In fact, nowadays, in many advanced countries, most food is made using ingredients which are derived from GMO crops. Some of the real examples of genetically modified organisms including very mundane, day to day food items such as soybeans, corn oil, canola oil and even some fruits and vegetables including potatoes.

Talk about avoiding food waste! In the United States there are 11 commercially available genetically modified crops in the United States: soybeans, corn (field and sweet), canola, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, summer squash, papaya, apples and potatoes.

Which 2 countries banned GM crops? ›

In Africa, Algeria and Madagascar have banned GMOs, and in Asia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, and Saudi Arabia. Finally, in the Americas, Belize, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela have all banned GMOs. The United States has no official legislation banning GMOs. GMO bans are a volatile field.

Do GMOs affect your health? GMO foods are as healthful and safe to eat as their non-GMO counterparts. Some GMO plants have actually been modified to improve their nutritional value. An example is GMO soybeans with healthier oils that can be used to replace oils that contain trans fats.

Soybean, maize, cotton and canola with herbicide tolerance and insect resistance are the major GM crops grown around the world.

The main concerns around GMOs involve allergies, cancer, and environmental issues — all of which may affect the consumer. While current research suggests few risks, more long-term research is needed.

These stable genetic changes will significantly enhance crop traits, including: delayed senescence/fruit ripening/spoilage leading to extended shelf life of perishable produce; enhanced tolerance to diseases and stress, such as drought, heat, cold, salt, low nutrients; increased biomass and seed yields.

If a food item isn't organic or doesn't have a Non-GMO Project seal, avoid products that come from the most common GMO crops. This includes corn, soy, canola, papaya, zucchini and yellow summer squash, sugar beets and cottonseed.

The List of Bioengineered Foods consists of the following: Alfalfa, apple (Arctic^TM varieties), canola, corn, cotton, eggplant (BARI Bt Begun varieties), papaya (ringspot virus-resistant varieties), pineapple (pink flesh varieties), potato, salmon (AquAdvantage®), soybean, squash (summer, coat protein-mediated virus- ...

It is well documented that the use of biotechnology is having an impact on the alleviation of poverty and to hunger in those developing countries, especially China and India (if one can still classify these two as developing), where development and deployment of GM crops has been adopted.