In the last one hundred years approximately ninety to ninety-five percent of fruit and vegetable varieties have gone extinct!
This apparent decline in agrobiodiversity is not limited to the Western hemisphere, but rather it is a global pattern that has become increasing evident over the last several decades. For example, in the 1940’s over 10,000 wheat varieties were available in China, but by the 1970’s only 1,000 remained.
Declines in agrobiodiversity threaten the world’s food security. The disappearance of vegetable species represents a loss of genetic resources that could otherwise be considered a safe guard against imminent threats such as climate change. Many biologists, ecologists, naturalists, and others consider biological diversity to be the foundation of resiliency, and thus a loss of genetic resources increases human vulnerability.
This apparent decline in agrobiodiversity is not limited to the Western hemisphere, but rather it is a global pattern that has become increasing evident over the last several decades. For example, in the 1940’s over 10,000 wheat varieties were available in China, but by the 1970’s only 1,000 remained.
Declines in agrobiodiversity threaten the world’s food security. The disappearance of vegetable species represents a loss of genetic resources that could otherwise be considered a safe guard against imminent threats such as climate change. Many biologists, ecologists, naturalists, and others consider biological diversity to be the foundation of resiliency, and thus a loss of genetic resources increases human vulnerability.