Why is genetic diversity in plant crops important?

Diversity in plants also gives us a “treasure chest” of options for raising the healthiest and most productive crops. No matter what changes happen in our food system, we will always be able to adapt if we have enough genetic diversity.

How does genetic diversity benefit agriculture?

Genetic diversity allows agricultural plant and animal breeders to adapt to changing variables. Plant breeders utilize genetic diversity to create improved crop varieties with traits such as yield, pest resistance and environment stress.

Why is it important to preserve the genetic diversity of crops and their landraces and wild relatives?

Crop diversity is the foundation of agriculture, enabling it to evolve and adapt to meet the never-ending challenge of sustainably producing sufficient and nutritious food for an increasing population.

What is crop genetic diversity?

Crop diversity is a tenet of sustainable agriculture. The term crop diversity refers to both the planting of different crops (planting carrots, tomatoes, lettuce and beans on the same farm), as well as planting different varieties of one crop (planting many types of tomatoes).

How do plants increase genetic diversity?

Some techniques like wide-hybridization, hybridization between incompatible types or introgression from previously isolated populations increase the genetic diversity as they result in generation of new phenotypes. In contrast, intra-specific hybridization reduces the genetic diversity.

Why is plant diversity important?

Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play. For example, A larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops. Greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms.

Why is diversity important in agriculture?

Crop diversity is fundamental to agricultural growth. They can produce varieties that resist pests and diseases and are drought tolerant, providing more protection against crop failure and better insulating poor farmers from risk.

Why is it important to preserve crop diversity?

Why is genetic diversity in agricultural crops threatened?

– Diversity in a crop can also result from different growing conditions: a crop growing in nutrient-poor soil is likely to be shorter than a crop growing in more fertile soil. The introduction of high-yielding varieties is the biggest obstacle to genetic diversity in agricultural crops.

How can crop diversity be increased?

Crop rotations, management of crop residues, conservation tillage, incorporation of animal manures and the use of nitrogen-fixing crops can increase soil health and productivity. Breaks insect, disease and weed cycles Diverse plantings often decrease insect pest populations.

Why is genetic diversity important?

Genetic diversity serves as a way for populations to adapt to changing environments. With more variation, it is more likely that some individuals in a population will possess variations of alleles that are suited for the environment. Those individuals are more likely to survive to produce offspring bearing that allele.

Why would farming with more plant diversity be better?

There is consistently strong evidence that strategically increasing plant diversity increases crop and forage yield, wood production, yield stability, pollinators, weed suppression and pest suppression, whereas effects of diversification on soil nutrients and carbon remain poorly understood.