How many plants are genetically modified?
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are over 40 plant varieties that have completed all of the federal requirements for commercialization. Some examples of these plants include tomatoes and cantalopes that have modified ripening characteristics, soybeans, canola and sugarbeets that are resistant to herbicides, and corn and cotton plants with increased resistance to insect pests. The seven transgenic crops grown worldwide in 1999 were, in descending order of area, soybean, corn/maize, cotton, canola/rapeseed, potato, squash and papaya. Transgenic soybean and corn continued to be ranked first and second in 1999, accounting for 54 % and 28 % of global transgenic crop area, respectively. Cotton (9.1 million acres) and canola (8.4 million acres) shared third ranking position in 1999 each occupying approximately 9 % of global area. Potato, squash and papaya occupied less than 1% of the global area of transgenic cro
