Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems

Crop species and varietal diversity on farm have the potential to trigger multiple regulating and provisioning ecosystem services. The latter is commonly assessed through targeted studies covering a select number of geographies and crop species, precluding comparisons across crops and at scale. T...

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Autores principales: Gatto, M., Haan, Stef de, Laborte, Alice G., Bonierbale, Merideth W., Labarta, Ricardo Antonio, Hareau, Guy
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Frontiers Media 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111547
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author Gatto, M.
Haan, Stef de
Laborte, Alice G.
Bonierbale, Merideth W.
Labarta, Ricardo Antonio
Hareau, Guy
author_browse Bonierbale, Merideth W.
Gatto, M.
Haan, Stef de
Hareau, Guy
Labarta, Ricardo Antonio
Laborte, Alice G.
author_facet Gatto, M.
Haan, Stef de
Laborte, Alice G.
Bonierbale, Merideth W.
Labarta, Ricardo Antonio
Hareau, Guy
author_sort Gatto, M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Crop species and varietal diversity on farm have the potential to trigger multiple regulating and provisioning ecosystem services. The latter is commonly assessed through targeted studies covering a select number of geographies and crop species, precluding comparisons across crops and at scale. This study draws on a large dataset on the varietal release dynamics for 11 major food crops in 44 countries of Asia and Africa to assess trends in diversity across crops and regions with a 50-year perspective. Our results show an increasing reduction of crop varietal diversity linked to the spatial displacement of traditional landraces. This trend occurs at a faster rate in Asia than in Africa. So-called mega varieties tend to increasingly dominate agricultural landscapes, adding to spatial homogeneity. We further found a negative association between varietal richness and its relative abundance, challenging the relationship between crop improvement and varietal diversity. Our results show that among cereal, pulse, and root and tuber crops, varietal diversity is lowest for cereals in Asia and highest for root and tubers in Africa. The analysis contributes new information useful to prioritize crops for which increasing varietal diversity may lead to more sustainable food systems.
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spelling CGSpace1115472024-09-09T10:04:48Z Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems Gatto, M. Haan, Stef de Laborte, Alice G. Bonierbale, Merideth W. Labarta, Ricardo Antonio Hareau, Guy crop improvement resilience africa asia Crop species and varietal diversity on farm have the potential to trigger multiple regulating and provisioning ecosystem services. The latter is commonly assessed through targeted studies covering a select number of geographies and crop species, precluding comparisons across crops and at scale. This study draws on a large dataset on the varietal release dynamics for 11 major food crops in 44 countries of Asia and Africa to assess trends in diversity across crops and regions with a 50-year perspective. Our results show an increasing reduction of crop varietal diversity linked to the spatial displacement of traditional landraces. This trend occurs at a faster rate in Asia than in Africa. So-called mega varieties tend to increasingly dominate agricultural landscapes, adding to spatial homogeneity. We further found a negative association between varietal richness and its relative abundance, challenging the relationship between crop improvement and varietal diversity. Our results show that among cereal, pulse, and root and tuber crops, varietal diversity is lowest for cereals in Asia and highest for root and tubers in Africa. The analysis contributes new information useful to prioritize crops for which increasing varietal diversity may lead to more sustainable food systems. 2021-02 2021-02-24T23:04:19Z 2021-02-24T23:04:19Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111547 en Open Access Frontiers Media Gatto, M., de Haan, S., Laborte, A., Bonierbale, M., Labarta, R., & Hareau, G. (2021). Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. ISSN: 2571-581X.
spellingShingle crop improvement
resilience
africa
asia
Gatto, M.
Haan, Stef de
Laborte, Alice G.
Bonierbale, Merideth W.
Labarta, Ricardo Antonio
Hareau, Guy
Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems
title Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems
title_full Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems
title_fullStr Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems
title_full_unstemmed Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems
title_short Trends in Varietal Diversity of Main Staple Crops in Asia and Africa and Implications for Sustainable Food Systems
title_sort trends in varietal diversity of main staple crops in asia and africa and implications for sustainable food systems
topic crop improvement
resilience
africa
asia
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111547
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