Why is variety in crop plants important for “food security”? Varieties contain genes that, through conventional breeding, might confer resistance to disease . ... There were massive increases in production due to the use of crops better suited to advanced agriculture.
Why are variations important in agriculture?
Genetic diversity is needed to safeguard potentially vital traits that could be used to combat an unexpected future pest or adapt to the needs of the world’s food supply. 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. ... Half of the increase in food production globally can be attributed to genetic improvement.
What is the relationship between plant species and genetic diversity and food security?
Genetic information held in certain crop varieties is crucial to the development of heat, drought, salinity, pests and diseases -resistant, fast-growing, high-yielding new varieties, necessary to reduce food insecurity in the face of climate change.
What are crop varieties?
Crop diversity is the variance in genetic and phenotypic characteristics of plants used in agriculture . ... Crop diversity loss threatens global food security, as the world’s human population depends on a diminishing number of varieties of a diminishing number of crop species.
What are the benefits of plant variation?
the species can adapt to new environments due to variation , which gives them a survival advantage. a disease or change in environment is less likely to affect all the individuals in a population.
What is the importance of variation?
Variations in organisms arise due to the sexual reproduction and ensure the natural selection of the individual and in turn make the organism better adapted to the environment. 1. Variations enable better adaptation of an organism in the changing environmental condition.
Why genetic factor is very important in crop production?
Presence of genetic variability in crops is essential for its further improvement by providing options for the breeders to develop new varieties and hybrids. This can be achieved through phenotypic and molecular characterization of PGR. Sometimes, large size of germplasm may limit their use in breeding.
Why are crops are important?
A group is a collection of two or more people who work with one another regularly to achieve common goals. Groups help organizations in accomplishing important tasks. Groups are important to improve organizational outputs and to influence the attitudes and behaviour of members of the organization .
What are the three main components of sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals – environmental health, economic profitability, and social equity (Figure 1). A variety of philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to these goals, but a few common themes and principles weave through most definitions of sustainable agriculture.
What are the four principles of regenerative agriculture?
4 Basic Regenerative Farming Practices
The following regenerative agricultural practices aim to improve the well-being of our environment by increasing soil fertility, biodiversity, water retention and cleanliness, and soil carbon sequestration .
What meant by food security?
Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life .
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.
What is improve variety?
Modern improved varieties offer much higher yields, better quality, and more stable production . ICARDA and its partners have developed improved varieties of a range of crops – wheat, barley, lentil, faba bean, chickpea, grasspea, field pea and forage crops.
How do we improve the variety of plants?
Crop variety improvement: It can be done either by hybridisation or by introducing a gene . (i) Crop improvement by hybridisation: Hybridisation refers to crossing between genetically dissimilar plants.
What is the main reason for crop rotation?
Multiple crops in a rotation break weed, insect, and disease cycles. Rotations produce healthy and productive crops . Rotations are planned to produce residue cover for erosion control and moisture conservation. Rotations with hay or cover crops can reduce fertilizer and pesticide inputs.
