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http://www.isaaa.org/default.asp

Strikingly, among the 25 countries growing GM crops in 2008, half are less developed countries.  More importantly, more than 90% of the 13.3 million farmers growing biotech crops are small-holder, resource poor farmers. Farmers migrate to GM crops because their yields increase 5-25% and their costs decrease, in some cases by as much as 50%.  The estimated cumulative increase in farmer income over the 12 years since GM crops were introduced in 1996 is on the order of 35 billion US dollars. In India in 2008, for example, 5 million small farmers, (up from 3.8 million farmers in 2007) planted 7.6 million hectares of Bt cotton, an adoption rate of 82%. Benefits vary according to varying pest infestation levels in different years and locations. However, on average, small farmers experience yield increases of 31%.   Insecticide use decreased by 39%, and profitability increased by 88%. In addition, in contrast to the families of farmers planting conventional cotton, families of Bt cotton farmers enjoyed emerging welfare benefits including more prenatal care and assistance with at-home births for women, plus a higher school enrollment of their children, a higher percentage of whom were vaccinated. There are environmental benefits, as well. Herbicide tolerant crops contribute significantly to soil conservation because more farmers farm without ever plowing their land – this is called no-till farming.  A second benefit has been the concomitant reduction in fuel use because tilling takes tractors and fuel.  Thus herbicide tolerant crops have two environmental benefits: soil conservation and reduced CO2 emissions.