**3. Brief history of global adoption of genetically modified crops**

The history of GM crop in agriculture started with Flavr Savr™ Tomato, the first ever GM crop approved for human consumption in 1994 by the Food and Drug administration, USA [16]. This GM tomato was developed by former Monsanto Company (currently Bayer Crop Science) with a longer shelf life. Later on, in 1995 Mexico and Canada adopted this GM tomato for consumption. Till then many countries started to adopt GM crops and according to ISAAA, in 2019, a total of 71 countries have adopted GM crops among which 29 countries directly cultivated different types of GM crops including cereal, vegetables, oilseed, fruits, and flowers, whereas rest of the countries imported GM food [17]. Most crops have been genetically modified for herbicide tolerance and insect resistance [18], however, several crops have been also targeted for modified quality, for example, modified flower color, modified nutrient quality, longer shelf life and so on [19].
