Empowering Smallholders: Hybrid Seminar Highlights Impact of GM Adoption in Indonesia and Beyond

Smallholder farmers are crucial to global food security, yet they often face severe production constraints, climate pressures, and regulatory delays. To highlight how agricultural biotechnology can transform smallholder farmers and their families, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Inc., in partnership with CropLife Asia and CropLife Indonesia, hosted a hybrid seminar titled Smallholders in the Global Arena: The Socio-Economic Impact of GM Adoption in Indonesia and Beyond. Held on October 14, 2026, at the JS Luwansa Hotel in Jakarta and broadcast live via Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook, the landmark event brought together over 40 on-site attendees and 2,480 online participants from across the globe to discuss Indonesia’s regulatory pathways, global genetically modified (GM) crop adoption trends, and socio-economic impact data.

Biosafety Regulations in Indonesia

Ir. Inge Retnowati, M.S., Director of Biodiversity of the Ministry of Environment, outlined the legal and regulatory framework governing GM products, emphasizing biosafety across environmental, food, and feed safety domains. She detailed mandatory requirements for GM products, including comprehensive baseline safety data; staged testing across laboratories, contained facilities, and field trials; efficacy testing; biosafety clearances; and mandatory risk assessments before first-time imports or commercial release. She also explained that gene editing is treated separately, with the Biosafety Committee conducting preliminary assessments to classify products as GMO or non-GMO and determine their respective regulatory pathways. Finally, she addressed ongoing challenges in the field, highlighting concerns surrounding seed sovereignty, ecological risks, socio-economic inequality, and the critical need for reliable evidence and stakeholder engagement.

GM Crop Adoption Trends

Dr. Rhodora Romero-Aldemita, Executive Director of ISAAA Inc., highlighted the global status of biotech crops in 2024, showing that the top five planting countries (US, Brazil, Argentina, India, and Canada) account for over 90% of the global biotech crop area (~202 million hectares). In the Asia-Oceania region, nine countries cultivate biotech crops, led by India (11.9 million ha of Bt cotton), China (3.5 million ha), and Australia (2.2 million ha), while Indonesia has 230,000 hectares of GM sugarcane and maize. The top GM crops by area include soybean (107.34 million ha), maize (73.24 million ha), cotton (25.25 million ha), and canola (11.7 million ha). She also mentioned key new technological innovations, such as TELA maize (for insect resistance and drought tolerance) in Nigeria, GM Cavendish banana (for fungal disease resistance) in Australia, and GM eucalyptus (for increased volumetric wood) in Brazil. 

Case Study: Socio-economic Impact of GM Maize in Indonesia

Based on a study by Prof. Dr. Erizal Jamal of the Indonesian Research Agency (BRIN) comparing 241 GM maize farmers and 209 non-GM maize farmers showed that adopting GM seeds provided significant socio-economic advantages. At the farm level, GM maize users experienced substantial economic gains, including a 21% reduction in seed use, a 49% decrease in herbicide costs, a 4.6% increase in production yield, and an overall profit surge of approximately 60.4%. Socially, GM technology generated labor savings of around 7 work days per hectare on weeding, which freed up time for women to engage in livestock care and small trading. While high seed prices and supply shortages remain key adoption barriers that lead some to stop using GM seeds, adoption interest remains strong: 87.3% of current GM users intend to continue, and 48.5% of non-GM farmers are willing to try GM maize. 

Post-monitoring Insights on GM Crop Adoption in Indonesia

Dr. Atekan, S.P., M.Si., from the Indonesian Center for Agricultural Development and Modernization of Biotechnology and Genetic Resources (ICADM Biogen) discussed the socio-economic impacts and post-release monitoring of genetically modified (GM) crops in Indonesia and globally. While global evidence shows that GM crops generally increase yields and profits while reducing pesticide use, Indonesia remains at an early stage where regulatory approvals exist, but adoption is limited and local smallholder data is sparse. The presentation emphasizes that realizing these agricultural benefits requires careful post-release monitoring under regulations like Ministry of Agriculture Regulation No. 50 of 2020, alongside supportive policies concerning seed pricing, independent local evidence, and market readiness. 

Global Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts (1996-2024)

In his presentation Global Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts (1996–2024), Agricultural Economist Mr. Graham Brookes at PG Economics showed that 29 years of biotech crop adoption drove significant yield gains: over 10% in maize, 14% in cotton, and 8% in South American soybeans, yielding hundreds of millions of tonnes in extra production and saving 25.5 million hectares of land in 2024 alone. This adoption reduced overall pesticide active ingredient use by 6.5% (including a 34% drop in cotton insecticides) and substantially cut greenhouse gases by saving about 25 billion liters of fuel and sequestering soil carbon, together avoiding over 90 billion kg of CO2 emissions. Economically, farmers achieved an average return of $4.90 per extra $1 spent on GM seed, with higher returns in developing nations (over $5.00) than developed ones (about $4.76), accumulating about ~$385 billion extra farm income over the 29-year period ($29 billion in 2024). 

Way Forward

Based on the panel discussions, the following recommendations were tackled:

• Intensify communication efforts to build public trust and educate new government officials and the media.
• Advance toward regional regulatory cooperation, modeled after Latin America, to facilitate trade and technology transfer.
• Focus on developing multi-trait GM products (such as combined herbicide tolerance and insect resistance) and invest in gene editing for orphan crops and climate-resilient traits.
• Enhance seed distribution and accessibility (particularly outside Java), strengthen farmer training, extension services, and access to credit, while maintaining science-based, fit-for-purpose regulatory frameworks.
• Maintain long-term monitoring after approval to detect potential adverse impacts and ensure responsible technology use

“The seminar helped us explore how biotechnology transformed the lives of smallholder farmers. By embracing GM crops, we can help boost productivity, enhance climate resilience, and also improve farmer livelihoods. Most importantly, we contribute to food security in the long term across the nation and in the global arena,” said Ms. Anandayu Pradita, Biotech and Seeds Manager of CropLife Indonesia, in her final message. 

To view the presentation slides and discussions, access the full recording (in English and Bahasa Indonesia) on ISAAA Webinars.