International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications.

For the seventh consecutive year, farmers around the world continued to plant biotech crops at a double-digit pace, with the 2003 total up 15 percent to 167.2 million acres, or 67.7 million hectares, according to a report released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). The report also stated that 7 million farmers in 18 countries--more than 85 percent resource-poor farmers in the developing world--now plant biotech crops, up from 6 million in 16 countries in 2002. Almost one-third of the global biotech crop area was grown in developing countries, up from one-quarter last year. Within the next five years, ISAAA predicts 10 million farmers in 25 or more countries will plant 100 million hectares, or 247 million acres, of biotech crops. According to the report, the global market value of biotech crops is expected to increase from approximately $4.5 billion this year to $5 billion or more by 2005.