An assessment of land use patterns for Genetically Modified crops in South Africa

The global area of cultivation for Genetically Modified (GM) crops, also referred to as Biotech crops, has increased significantly since their adoption and commercial purposes began in the mid-nineties. Although the trade-offs between benefits and adverse effects of GM crops (and other Genetically Modified Organisms – GMOs) are still debatable globally, there is increasing interest from various countries to adopt GM crops because of the anticipated benefits for crop production. South Africa, one of the leading GM crop growing countries globally, has a total of 2.7 million hectares under GM cotton, maize and soybean production.