By K.T. Arasu

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Nebraska farmer Doug Boisen considers himself a "tough sell" when it comes to new products to use on his cost-conscious, highly competitive grain farm.

But he said he has gone from zero to 100 percent in about six years in the planting of crops genetically altered to kill insect pests or withstand potent weed killers.

This spring, he will plant 450 acres with a so-called "transgenic" type of soybean he says saves him money through lower herbicide and energy use.

Planting biotech crops is "becoming more widely accepted," Boisen said.

"In 1995-96, I didn't plant any. Now all my soybeans are Roundup Ready," he said, referring to the variety patented by life sciences giant Monsanto Co. to be resistant to its popular Roundup herbicide.

The conversion of U.S. farmers like Boisen to genetically modified crops has been steady for the last five years. Many of them have embraced the technology even though there is little evidence that consumers -- especially those in Europe and Asia who are vocal in opposing it -- have become any less put off by food made with genetically modified ingredients.

Consumer groups have raised questions about the long-term, unintended health and environmental impact of growing crops from seeds with re-engineered genes.

While the grounds of such concerns are largely theoretical, the benefits for farmers are tangible. The use of biotech crops help them cut herbicide costs and reduce crop loss caused by pests.

For the developing world, particularly Africa, the arguments in favor of planting genetically modified crops appear to be winning converts. The ability of GMO technology to develop drought-resistant plants, food crops for high-salt soils, or crops with missing nutrients -- like vitamin A for rice -- has offered a beacon of hope for world regions, where hunger is prevalent.

INDIA, BRAZIL -- EUROPE NEXT?

In the United States, 74 percent of the nearly 73 million acres to be planted with soybeans this year will be transgenic, up 6 percent from last year. Gene-altered corn will be sowed on 32 percent of the 79 million corn acres, a 6-percent rise. GMO cotton will account for 71 percent of the 14.5 million acres planted, up 2 percent.

But like the Nebraska farmer who took his first tentative steps into agricultural biotechnology in the mid-1990s, those who till the land for a living in places such as India and Philippines may soon be following in his footsteps.

Indian authorities in March approved the first commercial production of three genetically modified cotton hybrids after more than five years of field trials. India is the world's top cotton producer and has the most acres planted with the crop, totaling some nine million hectares (3.6 million acres).

Last month, the Philippines approved the field testing of crops with genetically modified organisms.

A report issued in January by researchers at the University of California-Davis said China is developing the largest capacity outside the United States to use biotechnology to genetically modify crops, and that it was targeting crops including cotton, rice, wheat, potatoes and peanuts.

The report said global sales of genetically modified foods grew from an estimated $75 million in 1995, when the crops were first commercially planted, to some $2.3 billion in 1999.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, a not-for-profit international group said in January that worldwide plantings of transgenic crops were about 50 million acres (123.6 million hectares) last year, a 30-fold increase from 1996.

Brazil, the world's second-largest producer of soybeans after the United States, has also taken a long-awaited first step in approving use of transgenic crops after years of making it illegal for farmers to produce and sell such crops. That did not stop widespread smuggling of GMO soybean seed into Brazil from neighboring Argentina -- where GMO soybeans are popular.

Even the European Union (news - web sites) -- which froze new licenses and field tests of GMO crops three years ago amid a wave of food scares from mad cow disease to dioxin in animal feeds -- has said it will consider new GMO approvals later this year.

THINGS LOOKING UP?

So are things looking up for transgenic crops? From the supply side of the equation, they are. From the consumer demand side, though, there's still a lot of caution and questions.

"The data we have relative to consumer acceptance hasn't changed that much around the world," said Neil Harl, professor of economics at Iowa State University. "The consumer is king here, and the consumers will ultimately get what they want."

There are 32 countries that have or are about to implement mandatory labeling for foods with GMO ingredients, signifying caution but leaving choice in the hands of consumers.

Harl said consumer acceptance would ultimately depend on the supply of and demand for GMO and conventional crops, as well as the cost of segregating crops to ensure product purity.

The United States says GMO foods are safe and argues that the cost of keeping GMO and conventional crops separated from farmgate through the food chain adds costs needlessly and will raise food prices.

Greenpeace genetic engineering specialist Charles Margulis said many consumers reject foods with gene-altered ingredients because they fear the unknown, but also because they are not deriving any direct benefit from these products.

"Why should they and their children take all the risks ... and they don't see any benefit," he said.

Margulis said biotech backers have been touting the benefits to consumers of the second and third generation of transgenic crops the last 10 years, but they have yet to materialize.

In the latest controversy over genetically modified crops, Greenpeace said last week that it had found food in Switzerland with traces of a type of transgenic corn grown for research in Argentina, but where its sale is illegal.

Herbicide-resistant Roundup Ready corn, developed by Monsanto, is not approved for sale in Argentina but the crop can be grown for testing purposes.

A Monsanto spokesman cast doubts on Greenpeace's claim.

"We don't know what methods were used to detect this corn and because there are many times when non-transgenic elements test positive as transgenic, we don't think it is the case" that there really was transgenic material, he said.

The image of biotech foods took a hard knock in late 2000 when a variety of corn not yet approved for human consumption on concerns it might cause allergic reactions showed up in taco chips and other foods, sparking massive food recalls, lower U.S. corn exports, and stiffer food testing.

The specter of StarLink corn, approved only for animal feed, has receded but remains a point of reference for those who advocate caution against such products. Several U.S. class action suits are still pending against Aventis CropScience, the company that produced StarLink. NEW BIOTECH CROPS TARGET CONSUMER BENEFITS

GMO backers say acceptance of such crops will rise steadily when consumers understand the direct benefits to them.

Environmental benefits through the reduced herbicide and pesticide use are evident but not really as tangible direct gains for consumers.

But work is under way to engineer rice, the staple diet in Asian countries, to contain Vitamin A, which is important for vision and growth. Research is being done to add Vitamin E, an anti-oxidant thought to aid in cancer prevention, in vegetable oils.

The nonprofit Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology said late last year that GMO foods such as corn, lettuce, tomato, soybeans, cowpeas, potatoes and even tobacco could also become an important way to vaccinate people against certain diseases cheaply and safely.

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