Agriculture germplasm resources: A tool of conserving diversity

Abstract

Three major physical resources in the world comprise land, water and the biological diversity. Agricultural biodiversity is an important component of biodiversity, which has a more direct link to the well being and livelihood of mankind than other forms of biodiversity. In fact, it is one of our most fundamental and essential resources, one that has enabled farming systems to evolve since the birth of agriculture about 10,000 years ago. Food plant and animal species have been collected, used, domesticated and improved through traditional systems of selection over many generations. The resulting diversity of genetic resources developed by early farmers now forms the basis on which modern high yielding and disease resistant varieties have been produced to feed the growing human population, expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), " agricultural biodiversity includes all components of biological diversity of relevance to food and agriculture, and all components of biological biodiversity that constitute agro-ecosystems: the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms, at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels, which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agricultural ecosystem, its structure and processes " . The effective conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity is very important in ensuring sustainable increases in the productivity and production of healthy food by and for mankind as well as contributing to increased resilience of agricultural ecosystems.