Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
Agrobiodiversity is crops, livestock, foodways, microbes, pollinators, wild relatives …
Almost eighteen months in the making, or 80 years, depending on how you look at it, yesterday saw the publication of a gargantuan review of the literature on crop genetic erosion. The team reviewed hundreds of primary literature sources published over the last 80 years that examine potential crop diversity loss, also called “genetic erosion”. …
China has lost 90% of the wheat varieties it had 60 years ago. The US has lost over 90% of the fruit tree and vegetable varieties it had at the start of the 20th century. Mexico has lost 80% of its corn varieties, India 90% of its rice varieties. In Spain, the number of melon …
Experts estimate that we have lost more than half of the world’s food varieties over the past century. Of course we have. And ocas are potatoes.
A familiar number was much bandied about during the otherwise wonderful celebration that has been the just-ended Settimana della Biodiversitá here in Rome. We have lost 75% of the diversity of crops during the past century, we were repeatedly told. So I will take this opportunity to repeat from my part that while for all …
Nicely done. But 75%? Really? Ok, fine, the FT gets a pass because it’s such a nice video. But just this time.