Clive James, president of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech

Applications (isaaa), says that Argentine crop area planted with genetically modified (gm) seeds will rise 1.5 million hectares to 11.44 million hectares in the 2001-02 season.

Argentina is the second largest user of gm products. The area planted in Argentina in 2000 represented a quarter of the total gm plantings worldwide. According to isaaa, of the record 11.3 million hectares, forecast to be planted with soya this year, nearly all will be sown with genetically modified seeds.

The gm corn plantings look set to grow to 800,000 hectares out of a total of 3.34 million hectares which is about 14 per cent more than a year ago, as per the group. Cotton area planted with transgenic seeds will probably hold steady at 40,000 hectares in the country.