According to a report released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) in February 2008, genetically modified crops were planted on 282.4 million acres (114.3 million hectares) in 2007, reflecting a 12 percent increase over 2006 and the second highest area increase in the past five years.

"And what we see in the 12th year of commercialization, which is 2007, is that we witnessed a 12 percent increase in acreage on a global basis. And this has benefited 12 million farmers around the globe," says Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA and author of the report.

"That’s a very significant increase. And particularly important is that of that 12 million farmers, 11 million farmers were resource poor farmers in developing countries. They represent some of the poorest people in the world," continues James.

In 2007, 43 percent of the global biotech crop area was grown in 12 developing countries. Overall, farmers in 23 countries planted genetically modified crops including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile (new in 2007), China, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Mexico, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland (new in 2007), Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, the United States and Uruguay.

"Of the 23 countries, 12 were developing countries and 11 were industrial countries. So the growth that we are seeing is in the developing countries of the world where this technology can have its biggest impact," explains James. "And this means that you are making a very important contribution to the alleviation of poverty."

According to the report, adoption of genetically modified crops among resource-poor farmers is delivering unprecedented benefits that contribute toward the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty by 50 percent by 2015. The potential in the second decade of genetically modified crop commercialization (2006-2015) is enormous.

Another benefit featured in the 2007 report is the social benefits that are occurring in B.t. cotton growing households in India. "A recent survey of 9,300 households showed that women and children were starting to benefit in areas where, in fact, B.t. cotton is grown. More specifically, these benefits were that women had … an increase in prenatal visits. The number of children enrolled in school increased. And the number of children that, in fact, were vaccinated increased," explains James.

" What we see here are a very important set of new social benefits that could contribute in a very significant way for a better quality of life for these people."

The complete report on the Global Status of GM Crops in 2007 is available on the ISAAA Web site. The report is entirely funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, a U.S.-based philanthropic organization associated with the Green Revolution; Ibercaja, one of the largest Spanish banks headquartered in the maize-growing region of Spain; and the Bussolera-Branca Foundation from Italy, which supports the open-sharing of knowledge on biotech crops to aid decision-making by global society.