Biotech crops in US hit plateau as Asian farmers increase planting

Biotech crops in the US seem to have hit a plateau, but farmers are planting more GM corn and rice in smaller markets in Asia, notably China, according to a new industry report.

Farmers around the world grew a record 175.2m hectares (433m acres) of biotech crops in 2013, up 3% from 2012, with US and Brazilian farmers the dominant users, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a pro-biotech industry organisation.

Critics of GM crops accuse the ISAAA of inflating figures in the EU and developing countries to show growing support for biotech crops.