Not that we ever thought it was, but there are souls out there who seem to think that we already have in hand all the agricultural biodiversity we’ll ever need, so there’s no need to hunt for more or bring it back alive. The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service yesterday announced its seed-hunting plans for 2010.
[W]alnuts from Kyrgyzstan, grasses from Russia, and carrots and sunflowers from fields across the Southeastern United States.
These are just some of roughly 15 expeditions that the USDA sends out each year to look for potentially useful crops and their wild relatives. There’s more in a longer article.
The second link has two url´s pasted together.
Happy new year.