The first successful commercial crop was cultivated in Virginia in 1612 by Englishman John Rolfe.

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"While small boutiques may want to use old production techniques, we have to operate this as a commercial crop, " says Andrew Floor, Sauza's global brand director.

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Mr. Bhardwaj thinks Virginia farmers may be able to grow the crop on a commercial scale within three years.

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Apart from the BASF potato, there is only one other GM crop approved for commercial growing in the EU - a strain of maize developed by Monsanto called MON810.

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Concrete, says John Miller, a North Dakota commercial beekeeper, is the last crop.

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It was only this month that France approved commercial production of its first genetically modified crop: a pest-resistant maize from Novartis, a Swiss drug and agricultural company.

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South Africa advised its commercial farmers to start planting early, and to use crop strains that ripen quickly.

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