Livestock Biodiversity: Genetic Resources for the Farming of the Future

It explores the history behind it, shows how livestock biodiversity can be utilized as animal genetic resources through breed development and by crossbreeding.
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The use of agricultural biodiversity as opposed to non diverse production methods can contribute to food security , nutrition security and livelihood security. Although the term agricultural biodiversity is relatively new - it has come into wide use in recent years as evidenced by bibliographic references - the concept itself is quite old. It is the result of the careful selection and inventive developments of farmers, herders and fishers over millennia.

Traditional breeds support rural livelihoods. Do they have a future?

Agricultural biodiversity is a vital sub-set of biodiversity. It is a use of life, i. However, agricultural biodiversity, sometimes called Agrobiodiversity, " encompasses the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agroecosystem, its structure and processes for, and in support of, food production and food security ". However, most attention in this field is given to crop varieties and to crop wild relatives. Modern varieties are the outcome of formal breeding and are often characterized as ' high yielding '.

For example, the short straw wheat and rice varieties of the Green Revolution. In contrast, farmer's varieties also known as landraces are the product of breeding and selection carried out by farmers.

Agricultural biodiversity

Together, these varieties represent high levels of genetic diversity and are therefore the focus of most crop genetic resources conservation efforts. Aquatic diversity is also an important component of agricultural biodiversity. The conservation and sustainable use of local aquatic ecosystems, ponds, rivers, coastal commons by artisanal fisherfolk and smallholder farmers is important to the survival of both humans and the environment.


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Since aquatic organisms, including fish, provide much of our food supply as well as underpinning the income of coastal peoples, it is critical that fisherfolk and smallholder farmers have genetic reserves and sustainable ecosystems to draw upon as aquaculture and marine fisheries management continue to evolve. Genetic erosion in agricultural and livestock biodiversity is the loss of genetic diversity, including the loss of individual genes, and the loss of particular combinations of genes or gene complexes such as those manifested in locally adapted landraces or breeds.

The term genetic erosion is sometimes used in a narrow sense, such as for the loss of alleles or genes, as well as more broadly, referring to the loss of varieties or even species. The major driving forces behind genetic erosion in crops are: The main factor, however, is the replacement of local varieties by high yielding or exotic varieties or species.

A large number of varieties can also often be dramatically reduced when commercial varieties including GMOs are introduced into traditional farming systems. Many researchers believe that the main problem related to agro-ecosystem management is the general tendency towards genetic and ecological uniformity imposed by the development of modern agriculture. In the case of Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture , major causes of genetic erosion are reported to include indiscriminate cross-breeding, increased use of exotic breeds, weak policies and institutions in animal genetic resources management, neglect of certain breeds because of a lack of profitability or competitiveness, the intensification of production systems, the effects of diseases and disease management, loss of pastures or other elements of the production environment, and poor control of inbreeding.

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In plant breeding , a population of plants is considered genetically vulnerable if there is little genetic diversity within the population, and this lack of diversity makes the population as a whole particularly vulnerable to disease, pests, or other factors. The problem of genetic vulnerability often arises with modern crop varieties, which are uniform by design. Since , human diets across the world have become more diverse in the consumption of major commodity staple crops, with a corollary decline in consumption of local or regionally important crops, and thus have become more homogeneous globally.

Agricultural biodiversity is not only the result of human activity but human life is dependent on it not just for the immediate provision of food and other natural resources based goods, but for the maintenance of areas of land and waters that will sustain production and maintain agroecosystems and the wider biological and environmental services biosphere. Research supporting these findings addresses multifunctional agriculture in Europe, home gardens from around the world, [17] smallholder farms in the tropics, [18] among others.


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The general trend noticed by the analysis of biodiversity present in different cropping systems e. Agricultural biodiversity has spatial, temporal and scale dimensions especially at agroecosystem levels. These agroecosystems - ecosystems that are used for agriculture - are determined by three sets of factors: There are not many ecosystems in the world that are "natural" in the sense of having escaped human influence.

Most ecosystems have been to some extent modified or cultivated by human activity for the production of food and income and for livelihood security. The Treaty is a comprehensive international agreement that aims at guaranteeing food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world's plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

Plant biodiversity and genetic resources | IAEA

To fully harness its potential, the most appropriate scientific and technological tools need to be applied to breed new plant varieties. The technique generates massive numbers of putative commonly accepted mutants that increase biodiversity. The basic aims of plant breeding are to improve crop varieties in terms of yield, quality, adaptability to climate change and biotic living and abiotic non-living stress factors in the ecosystem.

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