Global Biotech Crop Plantings Rose 7.2% Last Year (MOO, MON, SYT, POT, more)

Today traders in the ag-sector seem to be shrugging-off a report from the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications that showed global biotech crop plantings rose 7.2% during 2009. Stocks in the group (as measured by the Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (NYSE: MOO)) are down by more than 1.5% this afternoon.

As a Bloomberg article notes, the ISAAA saw total area plotted with biotech crops rise from 125 million hectares in 2008 to 134 million hectares (or about 331.1 million acres) last year. The industry group cited, among other factors, a strong trend towards herbicide-tolerant soybeans and insect-resistant corn by Brazilian farmers, as well as a similar trend to insect-resistant cotton by farmers in India.

The ISAAA also reported a 35% rise in plantings in Brazil and a 13% rise in developing countries.

Around the ag-sector:

• Monsanto (NYSE: MON) down 1.2% to $75.86
  
• Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) down 0.8% to $52.11
  
• Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) down 2% to $28.75
  
• Potash (NYSE: POT) down 3.2% to $109.80
  
• Agrium (NYSE: AGU) down 2% to $63.35
  
• Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) down 3.2% to $58.71

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